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  1. Games
  2. Simulation
  3. Animal Crossing
  4. Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Animal Crossing: New Leaf preview - New screens and details

Features
By Henry Gilbert published 18 April 2013

We’ve spent our first day as the mayor and are ready to report back

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

New in town

New in town

Animal Crossing: New Leaf has a similar start to previous entries. You wake up riding a train, you meet Rover the cat, he asks you a series of questions meant to build your character, and then your train arrives in your new town. But this time around the animal townsfolk greeting you at the station insist that youre their new mayor and its time for you to get to work. And thats how we spent our first day in the 3DSs first Animal Crossing.

We were soon lead to the town hall and met our secretary, but our dreams of a mayoral mansion were quickly shattered. Instead, we had to buy a new house from real estate kingpin Tom Nook. Within an hour we were once again in debt to Nook, and we were only comforted by the promise of mayoral power to come. After we planted a new tree in the town to symbolize our new administration, we were ready to start working on our city, but sadly thats where the demo ended.

New Leaf will be hitting the 3DS in June, but while you wait, check out the newest collection of screens for the game, including our first look at a special edition 3DS XL to celebrate the launch of the newest Animal Crossing.

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Henry Gilbert
Henry Gilbert
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Henry Gilbert is a former GamesRadar+ Editor, having spent seven years at the site helping to navigate our readers through the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Henry is now following another passion of his besides video games, working as the producer and podcast cohost of the popular Talking Simpsons and What a Cartoon podcasts. 

See more Nintendo Features
Read more
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
As we wave goodbye to the original Switch, part of my heart will always belong to Animal Crossing: New Horizons' world-changing power of connection
Two players outside a house with a dragon during the upcoming PS5 game, FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time.
No Animal Crossing announced for Nintendo Switch 2 yet, but the life sim RPG I've waited 11 years for is coming to Switch next month
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing fans sent into a frenzy over a tweet from Nintendo that could mean nothing or everything: "Are you trying tell us something?"
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Thanks to No Man's Sky's Switch 2 update, I've finally found time to become the mech-wielding Mayor of my very own alien Settlement
Donkey Kong punches towards the screen in Donkey King Bananaza with a big, mischievous grin on his expressive face
Donkey Kong Bananza feels like a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey to me, and it couldn't be in better monkey paws
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