When Animal Crossing Mobile was announced I was so hyped for it as it meant that I would finally get to play Animal Crossing again as it had been a while since I dwelled into that world. The wait seemed forever but eventually Pocket Camp had a release date and I got to play it. I had no idea what to expect or how well or awful it would translate to phones and tablets but while it ended up being pretty good, here is the problem with Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.
There was a lot to fear since they could’ve made a game that was filled with micro transactions and it likely would’ve done alright. What we got was not just a spin-off looking game even if it is indeed a spin-off but it feels like the real game and plays like it. The difference is instead of having a town you have a camp and you still fulfill requests of visiting campers in different areas so it’s very much a simplified or demo version of the real game and while it lacks a lot of the charm of the original it scratches the itch.
Once you get used to the different currencies and limits you realize that it’s not that bad when compared to other mobile games, in fact it’s really generous. The thing at least for most Animal Crossing players is the games have taught us to be patient so this game actually makes it seem rather easy to wait say 3 hours for new fruit to come out when the real games made us wait a whole day with no way to speed it up which here you do have an option. All the things that require micro-transactions can be done in a more rewarding manner if you wait oddly enough. Not to mention you get plenty of the items that you normally need to pay for and only the most hardcore players or those with really no time at all would pay for them.
But the problem is that there just isn’t too much to do and you get bored rather easily after awhile since the map isn’t that big and you can’t personalize it. You can’t build relationships as well with the visiting animals as you can in the games and the repeating dialog can be annoying as well as doing the same exact requests over and over again. The only motivation to keep playing is to get different clothes or furniture for your camp and to have all your animal friends join your camp. It’s the latter that keeps me playing since I like having all the new animal friends join my camp and my hope that there’ll be some interaction with a new Animal Crossing game where I can share my progress.
They have been really good with updates constantly giving us not only new things to do but adding features/games such as gardening. We also have a constant stream of new animals that are added to the game. Like the real games we also have themed events as we got to celebrate the different holidays so far. I feel I’ve done most of what I want with the game in all the time I’ve played and while I don’t really care for most of the events they’re having I think if you’re a fan there’s enough to keep you logging in from time to time to add new friends or play some of the new updates as it does give you a small piece of that Animal Crossing taste, if you’re new to the franchise, it might not entice you too much but know it’s only a small aspect of the game.
I did play Animal Crossing up to and even after Animal Crossing New Horizon came out on the Nintendo Switch. I ended up playing this game for years before I ever stopped. After so long playing the game I was frankly burnt out of the same three type of events happening over and over. Now through out that some of the currencies they had broke and they introduced new ones. They stopped doing villagers in that specific way and made new ways to get villagers, sometimes no villagers. We got some QOL improvements which made some things easier to do but then you wondered why you were doing it.
It was the same when they introduced a subscription model, which it worked well, to me it was worth the extra cost but then I realized I was paying so I wouldn’t have to pay the game as long. So in this case why would I not just not play the game instead of paying. They did keep introducing things and making new stuff but it wasn’t enough for it not to feel like a chore. I loved the game at one point, they did some things right, some things wrong but I played it for way too long and got tired of it, it’s a good game with the pitfalls of a mobile game and no matter how much new stuff they introduce the skeleton is the same. I had good times but I got burnt out, as of this time they keep changing and improving things but I am no longer there or interested to go back. I got so burnt out when I saw the switch game had mobile like missions per day I tapped out, Pocket Camp had already done all of that for me.
You can also check out our other Nintendo Mobile reviews here. If you enjoyed the article or have any thoughts let me know by commenting below or by tweeting at me. You can also share the article or hit me up an email with your thoughts, it’s nice to hear from other fans.
