What's the best way to enjoy Animal Crossing?

[RandomGuy331]

I'm incredibly casual when it comes to playing this game; I don't time travel to get what I want when I want, I don't cycle out villagers or plot reset (though I might in the future at some point), I don't have any particular dream villagers, and mainly I don't design my town, like all those really fancy towns that some people have here.

But I see these kinds of towns, I see people on here cycle out their villagers, I see everyone play the game, not to play the game, but to manipulate it, bring their dream town to fruition. Not that it's a bad thing, y'know. "To each their own" and all that.

It's just that when I play Animal Crossing, after playing on it for so long, it's gotten to a point where there isn't much else that I'm willing to do. Completing the badges seems like an absolute chore, and I don't feel like completing my fish or deep sea encyclopedia.

I want the feeling of doing stuff back, but I think at this point to do that I have to get another copy of ACNL, be it digital or physical; I can't bring myself to reset this town I've had for years.

Once I get another copy of ACNL, if I so desire to, how do you suggest I go about playing it? Should I go down the path of designing the perfect town, with exactly who I want to live there, where I want them to live, with perfect fruit trees and money trees and Jacob's Ladders and golden roses everywhere?

Or should I play it like how it was meant to be played (or at least how I feel it should be played), one day at a time, one conversation at a time, one errand at a time, watching the sapling you planted as mayor grow and grow with every time a villager moves onto my path, with every mortgage payment to Nook, with every sea bass you catch, and with every misfortune to cross your path?

Should I try and find this feeling of doing stuff and accomplishment in the destination, or in the journey?
How do you guys best enjoy Animal Crossing?

 

[Licorice]

I've had cycle towns, tted in my main, hacked (but i dont anymore okay lol) and stuff like that. Since I've restarted my town I haven't tted the first time and I'm not going to. I get bored way too easily to tt. I've restarted my town maybe 10-12 times since I bought the game on release day. :l

 

[drowningfairies]

I say play it however you want to, and how you enjoy it.
How it's meant to be played, means more than one thing, and each to their own.
Personally, designing the town and so on, I feel like that's how it should be played.

I used to TT in my other town. I don't anymore. I've restarted twice and plan on getting another copy as well.
If something bores you, try a different routine, you might find to enjoy it more.

I disliked my town being bare, without paths and such. So when adding them, I felt better about my town, which kept me playing the game more. Landscaping really helps.

So when you try to come up with certain goals, do things you haven't tried.
Some of mine were;
Get every fruit in my town.
Have at least one of every hybrid/flower.
Reach a certain bell goal.
Get my dreamies.

I played without doing any of that. It wasn't my cup of tea. So maybe trying it newly will change how you feel.

 

[Leen]

In all honesty, and this is just my opinion, there is no right way to play Animal Crossing. For me, Animal Crossing is a place to escape from reality for a bit. A place where I can go pull some weeds, dig up some fossils, and talk to animal villagers who are always happy to talk. It's a game, obviously, where the villagers are bots, but it is a game I enjoy playing because it brings me joy to be able to create things, to landscape my town, and bring my personality to this town that I've had for years.

I've played all sorts of ways. No time traveling to time traveling, hacking, etc. I've never cycled any villagers just cause I don't really have the time nor patience, to be honest. I realize there is a stigma to hacking on this forum, but, when you have been playing the Animal Crossing series for years, buying each game that comes out, does it really matter if you hack your game to move a PWP out onto the beach? I think it's creativity with no bounds.

TL;DR: Animal Crossing should be played however it makes you happy.

 

[Miii]

I've had the same town now for over two years (never reset) and I've managed to stay interested in the game by doing pretty much whatever I want Sometimes I time travel, though for the mast month and a half, I haven't, I never plot reset, I've landscaped just about all the available space in my town, and I'm working towards getting all the badges (only 3 left!!!). Getting every badge is kind of a chore, but it's worth it to me to have them all on the back of my tpc forever, same for filling out the encyclopedias (which I've done already).

If you're losing interest, and taking a break doesn't help, you can try re-landscaping your town, tearing down all your pwps and rebuilding them, filling out main street, or decorating your house(s). If you only have one character, making a second can help make the game fun again (I have all 4 characters). There's also visiting club tortimer island meeting random players there, decorating museum rooms and working in the cafe.

 

[porkbun]

each time i have gotten bored with my towns i always restart them. its probably not a good habit to have but really its the only way for me to get back into the game, and this time im trying really hard to make my new town the town i've always dreamed of having. in all honesty animal crossing is a game where you can play it your own way. some people like to TT, others hate it, some like to landscape and some dont. it really is just personal preference. the thing that makes animal crossing enjoyable for me personally is seeing all the creative ideas that everyone has for their towns, and also the creativity i can put into my own town. needless to say it is incredibly difficult and tiring sometimes to make your dream town, but if that road isnt for you casual play is always a lot of fun too. it really depends on what you find enjoyable and fun! if you want to take it slow or fast is all up to you

edit: oh also! trying new things is always fun! usually i didnt care about collecting all items in the game but now i'm really focused on getting as much as i can! i also try to get as much bells as i can through beetle farming and such which is also fun in its own way so maybe try new things you havent before?

 

[SilkSpectre]

I agree that landscaping, dreamies, etc. are part of the creativity and self expression. It bothered me to have villagers who didn't appeal to me or bothered me. I need my town to feel like my haven and represent me!

 

[LinkToTheWorld]

There is no right way to play, or no way it was 'meant' go be played.
If that was the case we wouldn't even have the option to change the time or plot reset, etc.
I play mine how I want to....I say you should do the same. Mine is the opposite to yours, I time travel, I cycle out my villagers, if I'm done with one day I'll move the time to the next. There's nothing wrong with how I play. Just as there's nothing wrong with how you play.
To me, it would get very boring to have villagers in my town I don't really like or to run out of things I enjoy doing in one day.
It's a game, after all. It's meant to be enjoyable. Just play how you want

 

[Sheando]

Like everyone else has said, there's no one objective "best way" to play. My favorite playstyle is one where I do TT, but only to make sure that I play every day right in a row. I don't cycle or skip weeks forward/backward, I just set the date to the day after I last played and the time to some time when everyone will be awake and walking around, and head into my town. I plot reset, but only probably 2-3 times per villager, just to make sure I don't despise their location.

I definitely second all the people who have said to find something new you can do. I played Wild World obsessively as a kid, but never cared about flowers. When I decided I wanted to use them to border my paths, I got started with breeding hybrids. This is also the first time I've really put effort into layout and landscaping. Those things aren't inherently better, but they do keep the game fresh for me. I also think that breeding and landscaping might be a good fit for you because they breathe a lot of life into a strict no-TTing playthrough. Every day you water your flowers, check for new hybrids, buy the bush starts and sapling from Leif, check on everything you're currently growing in town, and so on. If you are fairly consistent with landscaping, it's really satisfying to see the look of your town change a little bit every single day.

 

[supercataleena]

I first time traveled in order to get the villagers I wanted and to grow trees etc. Nowadays I play it just to make sure my villagers move out. When I have more time, I do the villagers quests and start a pwp every now and then. But every once in awhile I get a little urge to complete my town so I binge play and end up regretting it later. I think playing the game casually is the way to go about it.