Introduction of Animal Crossing Game Series
Animal Crossing is the most popular game series created for Nintendo and sold over 40 million times already. Its life & social simulation and each game main theme are similar to each other. They released 5 games in the main series and 3 spin-offs in the last 20 years. You can understand its popularity with an example of Animal Crossing: New Horizons which is released in 2020 and sold over 22 million times.
So what actually happens in all games in series, is it different from other simulation games? The answer to this question is simple for you, yes there are a lot of changes in the series. Mostly player needs to explore the island, build a community of different animal, and also solve their problems to make this place a better for living.
A lot of options available for player character customization which is unique compare to many games. But there are some options which are changed in different games in the series. But the main concept is similar which changes to better with time. Pokemon is a very popular game series but New Horizons from Animal Crossing series already sold more which is making it the most popular game of all time.
List of Best Similar Games1- A Short Hike
The main character in this game is not a human but a bird who travels to another park for meeting aunt. She cant get reception but a very important call is coming. Now she decided to go on a hike to reach the highest point of the peak. Other than the main story, there are some important quests to complete in-game. Bird must use all abilities like a fly, jump, swim, and whatever possible to reach to the top which is no an easy task. The sound quality of this game is amazing & players really enjoy playing it. This game is different from Animal Crossing in many ways but some features like there are birds involve in both games, gameplay & graphic quality make it the best game similar to Animal Crossing.
2- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash looks like a complete fighting game which allows players to attack each other using all kind of weapons. A lot of different attacks & special moves are created for the player to use to weaken the enemy. It's not about how much your enemy is strong but the use of different moves in proper method id very important. But we are talking about campaign mode which is similar to Animal Crossing, not their fighting gameplay. As per the main story, evil destroys the world of Super Smash Bros & now place all fighting character & spirits in different prisons. As the main character, you must complete various challenges & quests to free them.
3- Staxel
Staxel is the best game that you can consider more as Animal Crossing compares to many other games on the list. The gameplay style looks like Stardew Valley but helping other villages and creating a perfect place to live for everyone is all that we can consider it the best game like Animal Crossing. The main purpose of this game is farming, help villagers, hunt bugs and grow different kinds of crops. You can experience village life in this game, by working on a farm, meeting with friends, and also a complete a collection of different items which are your favorite. Multiplayer mode allow players to work on any farm with the help of real human players. That's really more fun to play the game when you can divide the important tasks between all fo them.
4- Moonlighter
There are 2 parts of this game in which the player must take care of shop in the daytime & explore dungeons in the night time to fight with monsters. The first part is very cool and looks like the Animal Crossing game in many ways, you need to get good items to sell & arrange your shop to be successful. But fighting with monsters is different where you need to explore unknown dungeons to kill monsters. Remember, these dark places are a very important source to provide the best quality items for your shop. Earn reward by killing monsters and also find goof items when exploring to make your shop more unique and successful.
5- Yoshi's Crafted World
Yoshi's Crafted World looks like Animal Crossing when it comes to style and different quality features. You may feel like playing a complete version of the Animal Crossing game. But it's important to know that its side scrolls amazing game where you collect different points, move from one location to another. Mostly it's a fun game that everyone can enjoy, each level is different with more difficulty level. We suggest you watch the above video which explains a lot about the gameplay of this game and how much its amazing. Sometime you may consider it more look like a super Mario type game.
6- Eco
The best realistic game is an amazing survival & simulation multiplayer game. Almost all of the gameplay of this game make it similar to Animal Crossing because you need to work with other players to build an awesome place without hurting the game world. The main purpose of the game is to create a balanced world with the help of using different resources in balance. For example, don't build too much industry to create a population that is out of hand. Its a huge game and a lot of players can work together to complete it at the same time. Now comes to the survival part which explains a Meteor is gonna hit earth and time is limited to survive without damaging the realistic world.
7- Dragon Quest Builders 2
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is not a simple game because it added a lot of genres altogether. The storyline is perfect, building, killing monsters, exploring and a lot of other features are available in-game. But their one feature which is building a different kind of buildings is similar to Animal Crossing. Monsters are everywhere and the player must kill them throughout exploring this game. Players are allowed o play together in different co-op missions. It was nominated for many awards & received 2 of them yet. A most popular game in the whole series and we suggest you try it if you are looking for an alternative to Animal Crossing.
8- Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands
Stranded Sails is an open-world farming game based on the exploration of different islands. It's a huge game that includes many features that make it similar to Animal Crossing. The main purpose of this game is to explore random locations, find important items that are useful for the game. Don't consider it as an exploration & farming game only because some features like interacting with different characters is also important. Many farming styles are making it better then Stardew Valley because realistic ways of growing crops & different options are added. The graphics quality of this game is really awesome & players enjoy it when playing.
9- Yonder: Cloud Catcher Chronicles
Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a huge open-world game where the main purpose is to collect different magical creatures. The game world is really beautiful with realistic island type graphics. Players are free to explore and visit anywhere they want in-game. Features like Crafting different items, building, and exploring are best in-game which makes it a perfect game like Animal Crossing. It looks like a never-ending exploration game with a hammer in the hand of the player which is normally used to open boxes also cut different trees, and many other tasks to be done.
10- Songbird Symphony
Mostly its a music game where one bird is on a journey to find his true origins. He also sings all the time, learning new songs and much more for all forests. The map is huge with a lot of secrets to reveal for the player. Some puzzles and other features make it a perfect, interesting, and crazy fun game for all kinds of players. Sometimes, other birds are in trouble when the forest is on fire because of different reasons. If you help those birds survive this kind of disaster, they will give you more nodes and help to sing in better ways. Exploration is a very important feature that makes it the best game similar to Animal Crossing.
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11- Little Dragon Cafe
If you read the name of this game, it looks like a game where you have to run a cafe. But remember, it's not just a shop running type game but some features like exploration, management, and interacting with other characters make it a perfect alternative to Animal Crossing. As per the main story, 2 kids wake up in the morning and their mother was unable to talk. A strange man appeared in their shop and tell them to raise dragon to save their mother. Other than raising a dragon, taking care of Cafe, kids can explore different unknown locations to find different kinds of secrets.
12- Harvest Moon Series
This is the most popular series ever created in the history of Nintendo Games. You can read about almost all amazing chosen games in series on Harvest Moon Best Games. Everything about this series is explained with complete details for you to read there. But how this game is similar to Animal Crossing? The main purpose of the game is farming, interacting with different characters, and exploring the island, these are enough similar features to make it the best game like Animal Crossing.
13- Monument Valley
Monument Valley is an amazing puzzle game in limited places. Each level in this game consists of the structure where the player can move their character without getting killed. Exploration is a very important feature of the game which makes it the best alternative to Animal Crossing. But surviving the structure of random type when going from one location to another is not easy. Sometimes these structures move up, down & player must wait for the right spot to move. The whole game look weird and player may take some time to understand everything especially the main concept of gameplay.
14- My Time at Portia
Amazing game which begins after civilization is destroyed and human started to rebuild everything from scratch. Exploration and collecting different items for recipes is common feature in this game. In some places, there are different enemies and the player must fight them when exploring. It looks like the best game similar to Moonlighter because you need to take care of items for crafting & explore dungeons and random places to fight with months.
15- Stardew Valley
Stardew is basically a farming game and you must read about this game with complete details & also some similar games to it on Games like Stardew Valley. Too much information is added to this article. There is no need to explain how this game looks like Animal Crossing because you can read the above article for more information.
16- Overcooked
Overcooked is a simulation game that is all about cooking. You can read all information about this game and also some amazing similar games on Games like OverCooked. Best game with main focused on management in the kitchen. But you can consider it game-like animal crossing because you need to perfectly manage all resources in-game which is very important in all Animal Crossing games.
17- Diner Dash
Diner Dash is all about the management of the restaurant, a lot of options are there which are very important to understand. Working with speed to clean up tables, convince people to start using your services is part of the game. In simple words, you are running an amazing restaurant in this game.
18- Happy Street
Happy Street is a simple game like Animal Crossing in many ways. But this game is available for mobiles only. Grow your farm, customize your own town & make it the most awesome city. All kinds of features are available in this game which makes it best compared to some other farming games.
19- Forager
The game looks very simple because if its graphics but people really love to play it. You can compare it with Animal crossing graphics but still, it's an amazing game. Explore different worlds for all kinds of purposes like collecting money, harvesting resources, crafting objects & killing enemies to increase your level. Different kinds of buildings are everywhere in this game which you must build for random purposes.
20- Castaway Paradise
There is no way to find any best alternative to Animal Crossing Compare to Castaway Paradise because the main theme of both games is similar. Making awesome islands good enough for all kinds of animals. First of all, you must clear the island from all kinds of rocks, weeds, repairing whatever possible to give it a good shape. After everything is done, animals will start living on the island & just like Animal Crossing, you must fulfil all their requirements. Villagers are giving different quests and task to the player which changes all the time every day.
Top Post on the Same Topic
We already mentioned GamersRadar posts on our site because they are very popular. Thousands of the article are written by them on gaming topics. Read their list of best Similar Games to Animal Crossing where you can game complete details and videos are added with each game entry. Our list is longer compared to them and also updated with better details but we still suggest you read their list too for more ideas.
Conclusion
It's not possible for us to write about every single animal crossing game because the article is about some best alternative games. We suggest you read an article on top Nintendo Switch RPG games which include Animal Crossing. The main purpose of this article is to find any game which includes life simulation, exploration, and provide a similar user gameplay experience.
Most of the games on the list are very similar to Animal Crossing but few games are different from it. But you will find some common features in every game which make them somehow similar to Life-Simulation games. It's always a good idea to vote for your best game in the list and suggestions more games to be added to make it a very long list of games like Animal Crossing which other users can get a lot of benefits.
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