Dobutsu no Mori
Platform: Nintendo 64
Region: Japan
Media: Cartridge
Genre: Simulation > Role Playing Game
Release Year: 1999
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: Single-player
Alternate Title: Animal Crossing
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Animal Crossing, known as Dobutsu no Mori (?, lit. "Animal Forest") in Japan, is a life simulation video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan for the Nintendo 64 on April 14, 1999. The game was not released for the N64 outside Japan. It was ported to the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on December 14, 2001; North America on September 15, 2002; Australia on October 17, 2003; and Europe on September 24, 2002. The Japanese GameCube version lacks e-Reader support, a feature found in the North American and Australian versions. A version of Animal Crossing was released in Japan with e-Reader support on June 27, 2003. A sequel, Animal Crossing: Wild World, was released on the Nintendo DS. Another sequel Animal Crossing: City Folk, was released on the Nintendo Wii. The first planned sequel, Animal Crossing 2, was to be released on the Nintendo Gamecube but was cancelled.\

Animal Crossing is a social simulator that has been dubbed a "communication game" by Nintendo.[citation needed] It is open-ended, and the player's character can live a separate life with little preset plot or mandatory tasks. Players assume the role of a new resident to the town. The gender and looks of the character depend on answers given to a cat named Rover on the train that the character takes to the town. There are also tasks that players can complete and goals they can achieve. The game is played in real-time-observing days, weeks, months and years using the GameCube's internal clock. Many real-life events and holidays span the year, including Independence Day, Halloween, the Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving), and Toy Day (Christmas). Other, regular activities such as fishing tournaments and early-morning fitness classes also occur. When players stop playing, they can talk to their Gyroid, a creature next to their house, to save. If the player turns off the game or resets the GameCube without saving first, a mole called Resetti appears in front of the player's house the next time they play to scold them for resetting; what they achieved the time before is lost but everything else is kept.

One of the main goals of the game, given to the player during the game's opening cut scenes, is to increase the size of the player's character's house. This house is the repository for furniture and other items acquired during the course of the game. It can be customized in several ways, such as roof color, furniture, music, wallpaper and flooring. These customizations are judged by the Happy Room Academy (HRA) every Sunday. Players are given the choice to receive HRA letters at the start of the game, however you are ultimately forced to.

Tom Nook, a tanuki in the Japanese version and a raccoon in the American and European versions, runs the local store. At the beginning of the game, he gives the player their first house with a mortgage of 19,800 Bells (the in-game currency). On paying the debt, part of which is done through a part-time job with Nook, the house is expanded, prompting another debt from Nook. The house is expanded several times during the course of the game.

The Animal Crossing village initially contains six villagers, and more move in or out depending on the player's actions. All villagers are animals and each has a home that the player can visit. There are many possible interactions between the player and the villagers, including talking, trading items, completing tasks, writing letters, and, in Doubutsu No Mori e+, buying medicine for when they get sick. Villagers also interact with each other.