Nintendo’s next mobile game will be here just in time for the holidays. On Sunday evening, Nintendo revealed that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will launch globally on November 22nd for iOS and Android devices. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp actually made its debut late last month, but only in a few select markets so that the developer could test the game before rolling it out to the rest of the world. It appears that the game is finally ready for prime time.
For those of you who missed the Nintendo Direct in October, Pocket Camp is a mobile rendition of the popular Animal Crossing series, in which players move to a new town filled with anthropomorphic animals. Although many hallmarks of Animal Crossing are present in Pocket Camp, it’s basically a distilled version of the main series.
While the portable and console entries in the series take place in one seamless town, Pocket Camp is split into a series of areas, each which their own inhabitant and job to do. For example, in the forest area, you can catch bugs, and you can fish in the river area. By performing tasks for your new neighbors, you’re are able to earn Bells (the currency of Animal Crossing), which can be spent on home improvements, new furniture and new clothing.
Having spent some time with the game last month thanks to a clever workaround, I found Pocket Camp to be a pretty faithful translation of one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises. Unfortunately, the free-to-play curve is far too steep, and after a few hours, you’ll either have to wait ages to do anything or spend a few bucks to advance. Hopefully Nintendo will have adjusted some of these timers by the time the game launches on Wednesday.
