Puzzle League is a new game mode added in Welcome amiibo which can be played by accessing the New 3DS and New 3DS XL furniture items.
Basic rules[]
Keeping in line with the gameplay of other Puzzle League games, Animal Crossing: Puzzle League requires the player to clear lines made of three or more panels while clearing obstacles to clear the stage or obtain a high score. This is done by flipping pairs of horizontally adjacent panels so that they line up with other, matching panels. Chains and combos can be made by clearing sets of panels in quick succession and will momentarily stop the rest from rising. As the player clears panels, an icon on the touch screen will begin filling up and once it's full they can unleash a special move that has various effects depending on what amiibo they have as their partner.
In several modes of play, rectangular garbage of various widths and heights can drop onto the player's stack, and can even extend above the top of the playfield. When a set of blocks that is touching a garbage block clears from the playfield, any garbage blocks touching this clear are "transformed" into regular blocks, which come into play when the garbage block is finished transforming. Any garbage blocks of the same type as the first one and touching the first one are similarly transformed, though non-touching garbage and differently-typed garbage do not transform in this case.
In versus modes, players can send garbage to their opponents' playfields by scoring chains and combos. This sends garbage blocks according to the player's color (arbitrarily assigned in some games, or based on the player's character selection in others). Combos send varying numbers and sizes of blocks according to the size of the combo, while chains send garbage blocks that span the width of the playfield and vary in thickness depending on the size of the chain. Players can also clear "shock blocks" (also called surprise blocks) – grey blocks usually containing exclamation points – that send chrome-colored garbage to the opponents' playfields. While these garbage blocks follow the same clearing rules, they do not clear when adjacent colored garbage blocks do.
16 March 2020
16 October 2015
Game modes[]
The game has a total of five game modes. As the player goes through story mode, they'll start unlocking them all. All game modes, except for the first one, have three difficulties: Easy, Normal, and Hard.
Story mode[]
Player and Isabelle in the final round.
In story mode, the player's objective is to gain the complete approval of the villagers by obtaining 100% support through clearing lines of panels. During each encounter with an opponent, except the last one, the player must finish three preliminary stages to gather up support from the villagers before the final match. In these stages, the player must clear the total amount of lines shown in the upper left corner of the screen before all the panels rise to the top. After that, the match with the opponent begins with the amount of support the player was able to obtain. Each opponent after the first one has different rules, which are stated before the match begins, and only by following them will the player be able to gather support and/or clear the match. There are a total of 7 opponents, which are a mix of special NPCs and villagers that are currently living in the player's town.
Rules: Simply get to 100% approval without overflowing the board
Rules: Gain 100% approval in 2 minutes
- Villager
Rules: Gain 100% approval with Candy rules. Only candy will grant approval. Clear candy by clearing panels next to the candy
- Special NPC
Rules: Gain 100% approval with Garbage Block rules. Randomly, garbage blocks will fall on the board. To remove them, clear a tile next to them. They will then become normal tiles
- Villager
Rules: Gain 100% approval within 2 minutes and with Garbage Block rules
Rules: Gain 100% approval with Candy and Garbage Block rules
Rules: This match starts immediately after talking to Cornimer. Gain 100% approval, but only chains (panels clearing themselves in a sequence is a chain) or combos (4 or more panels cleared at once) will provide approval
Score attack[]
In score attack, the player has to clear an endless barrage of panels to build up your score until you fail. As the player keeps going, the speed will increase.
Time attack[]
In time attack, the player has two minutes to clear blocks as fast as they can to obtain a high score.
Garbage attack[]
In garbage attack, the player has to clear panels while getting rid of the garbage blocks that will fall from above. As the player keep going, the speed will increase.
Candy mode[]
In candy mode, the player clears lines of panels as pieces of candy begin to appear mixed in with them. Points can only be obtained by getting rid of candy, which are cleared by clearing any set of adjacent panels.
List of special moves[]
Special moves can be used by pressing the Y button or touching the icon on the touchscreen after it has been filled up. These special moves have various effects and only by scanning an amiibo will the player be able to use a different one. Only model-based amiibo other than the Villager from the Animal Crossing series are compatible with this minigame.
| Name | Description | amiibo |
|---|---|---|
| Horizontal Wipeout | Deletes a line of panels. | None |
| Slow Panels | Briefly slows down rising panels. | Isabelle (Winter) |
| Horizontal Wipeout x2 | Deletes two lines of panels. | Isabelle (Summer) |
| Vertical Wipeout | Deletes two columns of panels. | Digby |
| Random Fruit Change | Randomly changes one panel type. | Tom Nook |
| Cross Wipe | Deletes a two-panel-wide cross section. | Timmy & Tommy |
| Back from the Dead | Gives you one last chance. | K.K. Slider |
| Max Fruit Change | Changes most-common panel type. | Reese |
| Garbage B Gone | Changes garbage blocks to regular panels. | Cyrus |
| Panel Pause | Briefly stops panels from rising. | Blathers |
| Double Bonus | Doubles your score for a short time. | Celeste |
| Blight | Deletes one whole type of panel. | Rover |
| Biggest Falls Hardest | Deletes the tallest column of panels. | Kicks |
| Surround Wipe | Deletes panels around your cursor. | Kapp'n |
| Sniper Wipe | Allows you to aim and delete panels. | Mabel |
| Fruit Shortage | Reduces panel varieties by two. | Lottie |
| Big Reset | Randomly changes all panels. | Resetti |
Achievements[]
By clearing certain achievements, the player can obtain new items based on the minigame or MEOW Coupons. These items are received through letters sent by Nintendo to the player's mailbox. All achievements that reward the player with MEOW Coupons are only worth one coupon per clear.
Trivia[]
- The Flower Fairy outfit obtained from the minigame belongs to Lip, a flower fairy and the protagonist of the first Puzzle League game, Panel de Pon, which was released exclusively for the Super Famicom in Japan in 1995.
- The flower fairy wand is a weapon Lip carries around, which has made an appearance as an item in the Super Smash Bros. series.
- The dialogue from the villagers changes slightly every time you encounter them in a new playthrough, though this doesn't affect the outcome of the story.
- The camera function is disabled while playing this minigame due to L and R being used during gameplay to speed up blocks.
- All of the background characters are villagers currently living in the player's town, save for the final match where a few outsiders show up.