Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a social simulation game created and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It was first available in Japan in 2012 and later released worldwide in 2013. This game is the fourth main title in the Animal Crossing series. In the game, players control a human character who becomes the mayor of a town populated by animal characters that look and act like humans.
Players can engage in activities such as catching bugs, fishing, and making friends with villagers. While the game keeps elements from earlier titles in the series, Animal Crossing: New Leaf introduces a new feature: players take on the role of mayor, allowing them to create rules and start public projects. With the help of the townspeople and a secretary named Isabelle, players are responsible for improving the town.
The game was praised by critics for its improvements over earlier versions. It was later re-released in North America as part of the Nintendo Selects collection and in Japan as part of the Happy Price Selection. In 2016, an updated version with amiibo support and new features was made available for free on the Nintendo eShop for owners of the original game. A retail version of this update, titled Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo, was released in late 2016. This was followed by Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a new game in the series for the Nintendo Switch, in 2020.
Gameplay
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, players control a character who moves into a new town. When they arrive, they are mistaken for the town mayor and take on that role instead of being a regular resident. Like earlier games in the series, players can explore the town, talk to other residents, and do activities such as fishing and catching bugs. Earning Bells, the game's currency, by doing activities or selling items allows players to buy furniture, clothes, or pay for home renovations. The game uses the Nintendo 3DS system's built-in clock, so features like shop hours, wildlife, and events change based on the time of day and season.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf adds new features to the series. At the start, players live in a tent until their house is built and upgraded. Customization has improved, letting players change their character's appearance and decorate their home. Players can now modify their pants, in addition to shirts, shoes, hats, and accessories, and hang furniture on walls. Features like benches and lamp posts, previously in the Japanese Dōbutsu no Mori e+ game, have returned. Players can now swim in the ocean using a swimsuit. Before April 8, 2024, players could visit each other's towns through the Nintendo Network, add friends to send messages, and play with up to four friends on Tortimer Island, a tropical location with minigames. Players can take snapshots at any time, which are saved to the Nintendo 3DS Camera and can be shared.
The game introduces a new mechanic where players become the town mayor, giving them more control over town design. While mayoral duties are not required to play, this role adds two new features: Public Works Projects and Ordinances. Public Works Projects let players collect money from townspeople and visitors to build items like bridges, fountains, and light poles, or add new facilities like campsites and cafés. Ordinances allow players to pass laws that change how the town operates, such as adjusting shop hours or encouraging flower planting. Only the first person to save a game on each copy can become mayor.
New Leaf uses many Nintendo 3DS features. Players can visit other towns locally or online with up to four friends (a club membership on Tortimer Island allows online play). The Dream Suite feature lets players download dream versions of other towns to explore. The Happy Home Showcase lets players view homes from other players met through StreetPass and buy furniture from those homes. A sewing machine at the Able Sisters shop lets players create QR codes of their designs, which others can download using the camera. Play Coins can be used to buy fortune cookies, which can be traded for special prizes, such as rare items from other Nintendo games.
Characters
The game introduces two new animal types for regular villagers: hamsters and deer. It also adds two new character personalities: "smug" and "uchi," with "uchi" described as acting like a big sister. New special characters include Isabelle, a dog who helps the player with tasks, her twin brother Digby, who manages the Happy Home Showcase where players can see examples of home designs, Leif, a sloth who owns a gardening shop, and Reese and Cyrus, two alpacas who run a store called "Re-Tail," which is a recycling shop where players can sell items they no longer need or create custom furniture for their homes. Tom Nook returns as a real-estate agent instead of a shopkeeper, with his former business now managed by his nephews, Timmy and Tommy. Characters from the previous game, Animal Crossing: City Folk, include Kicks, a skunk who sells shoes, and Labelle, a hedgehog who sells accessories. K.K. Slider works as a DJ at a nightclub named "Club LOL." The club is managed by Dr. Shrunk, an axolotl who performs stand-up comedy. Tortimer, the former mayor of the town, now runs an island that becomes available to visit after the player pays off their first home loan using the boat at the dock.
Development
Animal Crossing: New Leaf was first introduced at E3 2010 as the first game in the series for the Nintendo 3DS. It was later shown at the 2011 Nintendo World expo and again at E3 2011 during a short presentation where a release date for Japan was announced for later that year. Nintendo later delayed the release to 2012 before the end of the fiscal year in March, and finally set a Japanese release for the third quarter of that year during a Nintendo Direct broadcast. The English name of the game was announced in October 2012, along with a planned release in Western countries for early 2013. In February 2013, the official release date for North America, Europe, and Australia was set for the following June.
The game was produced by Katsuya Eguchi and directed by Isao Moro and Aya Kyogoku, who had previously worked under the director of Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii. The idea of allowing players to become mayor was developed about a year into the game’s creation, inspired by the goal of giving players more freedom to design and shape their town. Features such as passing laws to adjust shop hours were added to fit different player schedules while keeping the game’s time aligned with real-world time. The game’s main theme was composed by Manaka Kataoka (formerly known as Manaka Tominaga), who also worked with Atsuko Asahi on the rest of the soundtrack. Kazumi Totaka served as the sound director, as he did for other games in the series. Monolith Soft helped with the game’s development.
Because the game was designed for a 3D screen instead of a flat one like earlier games, the design team focused on ensuring that lighting, shading, and objects looked correct from different angles and that no flaws were visible. Koji Takahashi, the design coordinator, noted that creating new animal species for townspeople was challenging because the team preferred using familiar animals. Alpacas were included because they had become popular in recent years.
To make the game more personal for players worldwide, the development team studied customs and holidays from different countries and worked with Nintendo offices around the world. These traditions were included in versions of the game released in those regions. For example, New Year’s Eve celebrations differ: the Japanese version includes eating New Year noodles, the North American English version features drinking sparkling cider, and the Spanish-language versions in North America and Europe show eating a twelve-grape plate at midnight.
The English translation of the game began in March 2012, led by members of Nintendo of America’s "Treehouse" localization group, who worked with Nintendo’s headquarters in Japan to create in-game events. The North American and European versions include an extra feature not in the Japanese release: players can download example home layouts from the Happy Home Showcase using the SpotPass feature, in addition to StreetPass, which requires players to physically pass by others with the game. Localization manager Reiko Ninomiya explained that this feature was added because players in those regions often live far apart and have fewer opportunities to meet other players in person, unlike in Japan, where StreetPass is more common due to shared public transportation and community habits.
Promotion and release
In October 2012, Nintendo Japan started an official Animal Crossing: New Leaf Twitter account. This account shared tweets from the character Isabelle, which included updates and promotions about the game. Nintendo Europe began an English version of the account in April 2013, and Nintendo of America started one in May 2013. In the same month, Nintendo of America created a series of video discussions with the English "Treehouse" localization team. These videos shared information about the game's development and translation. They were posted on YouTube, the game's Twitter, and Facebook pages. Nintendo Japan worked with the 7-Eleven convenience store chain to offer special in-game items and furniture, such as signs, shirts, and food displays. These items could be accessed by using Wi-Fi at select 7-Eleven locations in Japan between May and August 2013. Two Animal Crossing-themed clothing items were also added as downloadable content in the Japanese version of Style Savvy: Trendsetters for the 3DS. These items were based on the characters K.K. Slider and Gracie.
Nintendo released a special edition 3DS XL handheld bundled with a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf in Japan. In April 2013, this bundle was announced for North America and Europe during a Nintendo Direct broadcast. It became available on the same day as the game's release in both regions in June 2013. The game was also available as a download title on the Nintendo eShop in Japan on the same day as its physical release. A North American eShop version was released alongside its retail version. A pre-order bonus figurine featuring a model of the town hall with the character Isabelle was given only by EB Games in Australia and Game retailers in Europe.
A small group of American players selected through Nintendo's Mayor Program had the chance to try the game in May 2013. These players wrote about their experiences online. On August 7, 2013, an app called Animal Crossing Plaza was added to the Wii U. This app allowed players to communicate with other Animal Crossing players. The feature was available until the end of 2014. In Europe and Australia, a promotion was announced in August to October 2013. Players who registered their game on Club Nintendo could receive a code to give to another 3DS XL owner, allowing them to download a free copy of the game. In September 2016, Nintendo and Sanrio announced they would bring Hello Kitty to the game in Japan.
A major update called Welcome amiibo was released on November 2, 2016. This update added support for amiibo, including figurines and cards from Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda, and Splatoon. These items could be used to bring villagers and vendors to a new campsite area. The update also allowed save data from Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer to be used. It also added the game's touchscreen controls for furnishing.
Reception
After being announced at E3 2010, the game's visuals received very positive feedback. Patrick Klepek of G4TV noted that the game's use of the Nintendo 3DS's 3D effects created "real, tangible depth" in the game world. IGN editor Craig Harris described the 3D effects as "subtle, but helpful." Both Harris and GameSpot editor Tom McShea praised the detailed environments and objects in the game, stating they were more detailed than those in the previous game, Animal Crossing: City Folk, for the Wii console.
According to Metacritic, the game received "generally positive" reviews. The Japanese version earned a score of 39 out of 40 from Japanese magazine Famitsu, which awarded it the Platinum Award. The English version received an 8 out of 10 from GameSpot and a 9.6 out of 10 from IGN.
The game sold over 800,000 units in Japan during its debut, with 200,000 of those sold as digital downloads. Animal Crossing: New Leaf became the first 3DS game in Japan to sell over 2 million units, achieving this in less than two months. By March 2013, 3.86 million copies had been sold. By August 2014, 1.36 million copies had been sold in the United States. As of March 2025, all versions combined had sold 13.06 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling 3DS games. A week after the release of the mobile app Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp in November 2017, sales of New Leaf in Japan increased by 214%.
Legacy
In the 2014 video game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the character Isabelle appears as an Assist Trophy. The location Tortimer Island is a playable stage in the 3DS version of the game. In 2018, Isabelle became a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In 2019, the website Polygon recognized the game as one of the best of the decade.