Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp •

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Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
どうぶつの森 ポケットキャンプ Dōbutsu no Mori Poketto Kyanpu
Current game icon
Developer	Nintendo DeNA NdCUBE
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	iOS Android
Release date	October 25th, 2017 November 20th, 2017 WW November 22nd, 2017
Genre	Life simulation, Camp simulation, Communication, Online play
Ratings	ESRB E+ IARC 3+
Website	https://ac-pocketcamp.com

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (どうぶつの森 ポケットキャンプ Dōbutsu no Mori Poketto Kyanpu^?, Animal Forest Pocket Camp) was a free-to-play mobile app developed by Nintendo. It was originally announced in April 2016, and was released worldwide on November 22, 2017 (except in some regions). A persistent internet connection is required to play.

In Pocket Camp, the player establishes a camp for villagers to reside. Players interact with the game in portrait mode. In the game, players can collect and share items with villagers or friends.

On August 23, 2024, it was announced that the game's online version will be shut down on November 28 of that year, although it also made clear that a paid offline version with no gacha/microtransaction elements will be made around the same time that the save file can be transferred over to, with more details on the change to be revealed in October. It also stated that any unused purchased Leaf Tickets after the game's shutdown would be refunded. The Pocket Camp Club Journal released its final issue on October 1 and shut down altogether on October 28, exactly one month before the online version's shutdown. Automatic renewals for various Pocket Camp Club services were also be discontinued on October 28 as well, with no new subscriptions being accepted after that date. It will be replaced with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete, which will be released on December 3rd for $9.99 in the United States until January 31 where it will be sold for $19.99, and is $19.99 from the start everywhere else. It will retain everything except for Leaf Tickets, Leaf Ticket maps, and gift boxes. The concept is instead replaced with Leaf Tokens which can be acquired by playing the game and by interacting with friends directly, respectively. It will also incorporate elements from the prior paid plans into the main game as well as include new events until September of 2025, while old events will be rereleased during four year cycles. It also will feature a new location called Whistle Pass, and while the friends mechanic from the original game is removed, it will have a similar function with friend cards. Old collaborations with Mario, Splatoon, Eevee, Sanrio, and the like will not be included in Pocket Camp Complete.

Pre-release

The mobile app was originally announced in a press release on April 27^th, 2016. Nintendo stated, "...it will be connected with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems. By playing both Animal Crossing games, users will find increased enjoyment."

In September 2016, it had a planned release of early 2017, but was delayed due to the team focusing on creating the Android version of Super Mario Run.

On June 23^rd, 2017, Nintendo reconfirmed that the app would be released before the end of the year.

On October 23^rd, 2017, Nintendo announced via the official Animal Crossing Twitter account that a Nintendo Direct would be live streamed the next day on October 24^th at 8pmPT/11pmET, detailing further information about the mobile app and stated, "There will be no updates on any other topics including other mobile, Nintendo Switch or Nintendo 3DS software."

On October 24^th, 2017, Nintendo revealed Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp during the Animal Crossing Mobile Direct live stream on the Nintendo Mobile YouTube channel.

The game's official website allowed players to preregister for the game using their Google Play and Nintendo account. Shortly after the Direct, the game went live on the Australian Play Store on Android devices.

Features

Campsite customization

Bunnie riding a carousel.

When the player starts the game, they are asked by Isabelle to choose between 4 different types of campsite: natural (Goldie), cute (Rosie), sporty (Jay), or cool (Apollo). Several other themes, such as rustic, hip, harmonious, elegant, modern, historical, and civic are present and were given their own obtainable villagers post-release.

The campsite can be customized with furniture and amenities. Furniture can be made by gathering crafting materials, which are used in craft orders for Cyrus, which the player has to wait for to be completed. Craft orders can be started without materials and sped up by using Leaf Tickets. Non-craftable furniture can be bought at Nookling Global and during limited-time events. The customizable area for furniture in the campsite is 7x13 tiles. The player can also make amenities for villagers to use, which there can be a maximum of 2 per campsite.

Camper customization

The camper's interior can be decorated by the player with furniture, wallpaper, and flooring, and a second-floor loft can also be added. Additionally, the player is able to extend the space inside each floor of the camper through upgrades. The exterior can be customized at OK Motors, where the player can choose between different patterns and colors.

Player customization

The player can customize their character by changing their gender, skin color, hair style, hair color, facial features, eye color, clothes, and accessories. All features can be re-customized at any time.

Crafting

The player orders furniture from Cyrus.

Furniture can be made by placing a craft order. The player can use Leaf Tickets to start an order even if they don't have all of the materials required, as well as speed up the time it takes for an order to be completed.

Crafting materials

Main article: Crafting materials (Pocket Camp)

• Caps
• Civic essence
• Cool essence
• Cotton
• Cute essence
• Elegant essence
• Event items (ex: gyroidite, Super Mario Crossover crafting materials)
• Friend powder
• Harmonious essence
• Hip essence
• Historical essence
• Modern essence
• Natural essence
• Paper
• Preserves
• Rustic essence
• Sparkle stones
• Sporty essence
• Steel
• Wood

Amenities

Amenities are large attractions villagers can use. There can be a maximum of 2 amenities per campsite.

Buildings and locations

The stores of the Market Place

• Campsite
• Cabin
• The Camper is used to travel around to different locations around the map. The interior and exterior of it can be customized.
• Breezy Hollow is a forest with fruits to collect.
• Sunburst Island is an island with coconuts and bugs to catch.
• Saltwater Shores is a beach with seashells and saltwater fish to catch.
• Market Place is a shopping area that has Nookling Global, Able Sisters To Go, and Kicks. Each shop has 3 items for sale, which change every 6 hours.
• Nookling Global is owned by Timmy and Tommy, where they sell some items that can't be crafted.
• Able Sisters To Go is owned by Mabel and Sable, with help from Labelle, where they sell clothes and accessories.
• Kicks is owned by Kicks, who sells socks, boots, and shoes.
• OK Motors is owned by Giovanni, Beppe, and Carlo, where they customize the player's camper.
• Shovelstrike Quarry is an area that can be entered by paying Leaf Tickets, or receiving invites from friends to mine minerals.
• Lost Lure Creek is a river area with a waterfall. Freshwater fish and fruit can be caught and collected there.
• Happy Homeroom is a place where the player can design villagers' rooms.

Friendship Level

Bunnie walks near a windmill.

In the game, the player can chat with animal friends or fulfill requests to raise the friendship level with that villager. The animal will come and visit the player's campsite when their minimum required friendship level is reached, their required furniture is in the player's inventory, and the player calls them via the phone or talks to them if they are in the area to invite them.

The player also has a level. This is raised by leveling up villagers. Each time a villager's friendship level is increased, a heart is added to the player level progress. For each new level, the player will receive rewards that include unlocking more furniture or animals who may visit, as well as 1,000 Bells and 10 Leaf Tickets. On levels that are multiples of 5, the player receives an additional item, which may be a calling card, and/or a request card, and/or an additional market box slot.

Player level	Hearts needed for next level
1-11	5 Hearts
12-13	6 Hearts
14-15	7 Hearts
16	8 Hearts
17-18	9 Hearts
19-35	10 Hearts
36	12 Hearts
37	13 Hearts
38-39	14 Hearts
40-41	16 Hearts
42	18 Hearts
43+	20 Hearts

Answers during the tutorial will determine the starting villager.

Theme	Villager
	Rosie
	Apollo
	Goldie
	Jay

Fruit

Main article: Fruit

There are various fruit trees where apples, oranges, cherries, pears and peaches can be found. They appear at Breezy Hollow and Lost Lure Creek. Coconuts can be found at at Sunburst Island and Saltwater Shores.

Local-Produce Fruit

Players are randomly assigned either grapes, lemons or lychees, which grow on a specific tree in Breezy Hollow and Lost Lure Creek. The other two fruits can only be obtained from other players' market boxes. Fruits that aren't local have higher prices and appeal to villagers more.

Perfect Fruit

Every time a fruit regrows it has a 2.38% chance of being perfect, with the exception of coconuts. Each perfect fruit sells for 600 Bells. Aside from the 5 non-local fruits that are perfect, 3 new types have been added. These include lychees, grapes, and lemons.

Generic treats

Main article: Snacks and Treats

Generic treats reward the same amount of Friendship Points. They come in bronze, silver and gold variations, with gold being the high-quality snack and bronze being the low-quality snack.

Themed snacks

Animals will react to themed snacks differently. If the theme of the snack matches the animal's, it will give a higher amount of Friendship Points. Giving the themed snacks to villagers that do not have a theme match will yield in less Friendship Points than if given generic snacks. Themed snacks come in three variants for each theme - plain, tasty and gourmet. Plain snacks are low-quality and gourmet snacks are high-quality.

Friends

The player uses a blender.

Other campsite managers' avatars and campers will randomly appear, and the player is also able to meet other campsite managers by sharing their ID with other players. When encountering another player in the game, or after receiving their ID, you can view their Market Box, their campsite, give kudos, send gifts, or become friends to be able to visit their campsite, cabin, and camper at any time.

Leaf Tickets

Leaf Tickets are a currency which are earned by completing tasks and can be won through normal play or can be purchased with real-world money, and can be used in various ways in the game. Leaf Tickets purchased on one operating system cannot be used on another. For example, Leaf Tickets bought on Android cannot be used on iOS. During gardening events and fishing tourneys, Leaf Tickets can be purchased in a bundle with other themed items. Fertilizer and Leaf Tickets during a gardening event, and throw nets and Leaf Tickets during a Fishing Tourney. Leaf Ticket sales were made impossible on October 28th, 2024.

Price	Leaf Tickets	Price per 5 tickets	Price per ticket (approximate)
$0.99	20	24.75¢	4.95¢
$1.99	45	22.11¢	4.42¢
$3.99	100	19.95¢	3.99¢
$7.99	200	19.98¢	4.00¢ (costs more per ticket than $3.99 option)
$20.99	600	17.49¢	3.50¢
$39.99	1,200	16.66¢	3.33¢
$79.99	2,500

They can be used and exchanged for:

• Throw net (for fish)
• Honey (for bugs)
• Fertilizer (for growing fruit trees)
• Entrance to Shovelstrike Quarry (for ores)
• Placing craft orders when the player doesn't have all the required materials
• Speeding up craft orders
• Crafting special items that are available for a limited time
• Purchasing special exterior customizations at OK Motors
• Purchasing fortune cookies
• Purchasing campsite terrains

Throw Net

Throw nets are used on the dock at Saltwater Shores and Lost Lure Creek to catch multiple fish and shells or at Sunburst Island to catch multiple bugs. They can be bought with Leaf Tickets or earned during play.

Honey

Honey is used on Sunburst Island to attract and catch multiple bugs at once and can be bought with Leaf Tickets or earned during play.

Collectables

The player can catch fish and bugs to give to villagers in exchange for resources.

Unlike other Animal Crossing series spin off games, Pocket Camp features collectable fish and bugs. The player can also collect shells, coral and fruit, as well as collecting crafting materials.

Fish

Main article: Fish (Pocket Camp)

Pocket Camp introduces a new fishing item called the throw net, for which a river and ocean version exist. It is used to capture multiple fish at the same time.

Bugs

Main article: Bugs (Pocket Camp)

Pocket Camp adds a new item to help bug catching, called honey. It can be poured into a tree trunk to attract several bugs at once.

Goals

Main article: Goals

Goals are a new addition to the Animal Crossing series, and are specific tasks for the player to complete. They are accessed by tapping the Isabelle icon to the right side of the screen. They are divided into Timed Goals (time-sensitive goals which reset every 24 hours, or within a special event) and Stretch Goals (no time limit, to be completed at the player's leisure).

Gifts

Gifts were added to Pocket Camp on September 23^rd, 2020 in the 3.4 update. They can be collected by doing seasonal events, getting daily gifts, completing visitors' requests and retrieving them from Gulliver's islands. They are used to be given to other players, containing event fortune cookies, essences, throw nets, snacks and crafting materials.

Memories

Main article: Scrapbook Transcripts

The game features viewable memories that focus on at least one particular animal villager. They are unlocked by having the specifically required villagers (in some cases requiring a specific level for them) as well as either getting a gold furniture ticket in a specific event fortune cookie, or in the case of the first anniversary, crafting the 1st anniversary music box.

My Nintendo Rewards

An Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp platinum point.

Pocket Camp is one of the few games for which My Nintendo offers a platinum point reward system. Players who have linked their account can earn Pocket Camp-specific platinum points by completing weekly missions, as well as missions to link their Nintendo, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Platinum points--both Pocket Camp-specific and regular points--can be spent on in-game rewards, such as Bells, resources, Leaf Tickets, and an exclusive OK Motors cap and jacket. A pack of 50 Leaf Tickets is claimable for free, but can only be claimed once.

Controversy

The game received some controversy for the inclusion of microtransactions and a loot box/gacha system in the form of Leaf Tickets and Fortune Cookies, respectively, due to their negative reputation regarding exploiting customers as well as being a form of gambling. This led to the game being banned from places like Netherlands and Belgium due to loot boxes being illegal in those countries. According to a Nintendo representative during a V-tuber segment, the loot box and microtransaction system was not originally intended to be included in the game, but was insisted to be included by DeNA against the development team's wishes. The representative also proceeded to apologize profusely for the inclusion of microtransactions into the game.

Updates

Main article: Version history (Pocket Camp)