Who doesn’t love Animal Crossing?
Since the first game in the series launched on the N64 way back in 2001 – though it didn’t make it outside of Japan until the GameCube version reached US shores in 2002 – millions of gamers have succumbed to its cosy, easygoing charm.
I’m one of them, having been enthralled by generations of Animal Crossing games, going right back to that aforementioned GameCube game – back when you could fill your house with NES games that played on an emulator!
It’s certainly the case that the latest game in the series – Animal Crossing: New Horizons, on the Switch – was timed serendipitously, given that it launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an uncertain and frankly unnerving time, when millions of people around the world were stuck at home and finding themselves isolated.
A new Animal Crossing game was the perfect antidote to those uncertain and scary times; given that it had all of the usual traits of the series – being cute, welcoming, amusing, accessible, sociable and cosy.
Now there’s trading cards set to launch, featuring the game’s many familiar characters and settings!
Though Animal Crossing has featured on cards before – for Nintendo’s ill-fated, short-lived (but ahead of its time) e-Reader device for the GBA, as well as Amiibo cards – these lovely Japanese cards have caught our eye and piqued our curiosity nonetheless.
Releasing on the 25th of December, each pack will only contain a single card – drawn from a set featuring 21 villagers, as well as a selection of scenes from Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer.
Though that may sound pretty odd – a pack containing just one card – you’ll also get four Animal Crossing-themed gummy sweets in each pack too.
Unfortunately, they’re currently only set to launch in Japan – this news was first reported on a Japanese site, named Game Watch – which is a shame.
Especially as they’re priced so low – around £1/$0.75 – though that’s expected, given that it’s just one card and a few sweets per pack!
Though there’s no actual game element to these Animal Crossing cards, given that we here at Card Gamer have a sister site that covers all retro video games – Retro Dodo – and we’re all avid video gamers as well as tabletop game fans, we couldn’t resist taking a closer look and giving you the lowdown on these lovely looking cards.
