Animal Crossing is a series of life simulation games created by Nintendo EAD. First released in Japan on the Nintendo 64 in 2001 (under the alternate title Animal Forest). The game immediately stood out for its open-world feel and the lack of conventional video game tropes such as points, combat or levels.

In Animal Crossing you take control of an unnamed character in a village populated by various kinds of animals. Animal Crossing is open-ended in that there is no main objective, although the game features various challenges that evolve as time progresses. The game also runs in real-time, meaning that time is continually passing and allowing it to recognize important events such as Halloween or New Year.

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