Yesterday, I decided I’d had enough of the mobile games I’ve been playing (Pokemon Go, Boom Beach and Fallout Shelter), and wondered if there was anything new worth trying. Then, as if there were some divine intervention at work, my phone pinged up a notification, letting me know the Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is now available to download!
Animal Crossing
I’ll be honest, I’ve always admired the joy that this series seems to bring people, but I’ve never played any of them. I’ve been really close to purchasing New Leaf on the 3DS, several times, but I’ve never really understood the appeal, and didn’t want to invest in something I was so uncertain about.
So, as an Animal Crossing virgin, I figured a free-to-start (note the word “start”) game is as good as any place to dive in.
My understanding of the core concept is that you just casually build up a home, and a town, crafting, harvesting, fishing etc, and living a happy life in a friendly environment. Sure, I have no doubt it’s much deeper than that, but that’s what it looks like from the outside-in.
Pocket Camp
By all accounts, Pocket Camp is a similar set up, albeit it on a smaller scale. Instead of a town, you run your own camp. A place to invite friends and have them stay over, and a place to decorate and generally make your own.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten, at the time of writing. I literally have two animal friends that have come on over, and I think they live with me now? I’m not sure…
Otherwise, I have a camper van, which I just had pimped out by some penguin-looking fellas, and I travel from island to island meeting new friends, catching fish, harvesting bugs and fruit, and just generally pottering around.
I’m not really sure what’s going on yet, but it looks and sounds so friendly and calm, I feel like I want to spend a bit more time here and get my camp looking a bit less like a bric-a-brac stall.
The mobile game I was looking for?
Having grown bored of some of the daily grinding on other mobile games, it’s nice to have something fresh to give a little bit of time to. Will it become a long-running, daily play? I have no idea. Only time will tell.
What I do know is that I’ve spent well over a year playing Pokemon Go, to no real satisfaction. I’ve been over 2 years logging into Boom Beach daily, for minimal joy. So anything new is good right now.
All being well, this will be a lovely palette cleanser in a charming little world and I can forget about those other games.
Will it be my gateway into the Animal Crossing games? I think so! I definitely still toy with the idea of getting “New Leaf”, and this has given me a little more insight into what to expect. Let’s hope that the next week or so are as pleasant as the first day has been!