What’s the game’s about: Do chores. Pay off debt. Find your way into worse debt. Do more chores. Quit. Get chewed-out by a mole.
Above: Animals are nothing if not vindictive. Perhaps you wouldn’t have been sentenced to an eternity in Chore Hell if you hadn’t named your town “Dicksville”
Why you love it anyway: Hey, what’s that you’ve got there? Is that a carrot on a stick? That’s cute, but Animal Crossing laughs at your pitiful efforts. It’s got more carrots and sticks than a cliché factory. Under your colorful little town, Einstein’s theory of relativity is hard at work; for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Deliver a note for one of your neurotic neighbors, and you’ll probably receive a rare piece of furniture in return. Sell your piggy bank’s soul to Tom Nook, and your ugly little shack will quickly evolve into a sky-scraping mansion. And each in-game day means more items are available to spruce up your insanely customizable pad. Or, failing that, you can always use Animal Crossing’s equivalent of the “I read Playboy for the articles” excuse:
“Oh, er, yeah. These cute little animals and their dumb problems are pretty lame, huh? But if I play the game enough, I’ll unlock rad retro Nintendo games. For free! Now then, do you think this chair looks better here, or here?”
