sunsetsanddragonflies: Animal Crossing // One Year Of Kittyton!

Hey guys!
So, if you know me in person or follow me on twitter (@amyhavok if you want to) you will probably know that I really love a game called Animal Crossing New Leaf - if you didn't, it's basically a game where you're the mayor of a town, and your neighbours (who are animals, hence the name Animal Crossing) suggest projects to you, and you can do jobs for them and pay off your mortgage to get a bigger house, and generally just improve your town - you can even set ordinances, such as the beautiful town or the night owl, so you can have some control over what time your shops are open, having less weeds and dead flowers, etc.

I got my copy on the 13th June, so I'm doing this post to celebrate a year of Kittyton (my town) because I like seeing how it's changed from when I first made it.

When I got my copy, it was a day or two before it was released in general, as I pre-ordered it, so I didn't know that when you first start, there is a choice of 4 random layouts that you can choose from for your town (yes, you even have some say in your layout!) so I basically just chose the first map because I didn't want to fill in all my details again, and I just wanted to get started playing! You also have to answer some questions when you begin, which determines what your face will look like, and I didn't look that up beforehand either but luckily I ended up with an okay face that I could live with! When the train pulled into Kittyton station, I was greeted by Isabelle - your assistant - and three out of 5 of your starting villagers - I can't remember exactly who mine were now, but I think it was Bianca, Maelle, Cally, Drift and Cole. Once I'd decided where I wanted my house, and Tom Nook gave me a tent to live in until I paid my down payment, I went round my town looking at everything and meeting all of my villagers, as well as collecting seashells and fruit to sell at the recycling shop in town, Retail - the different layouts also have the shop, town hall, plaza and river in different places, which I didn't know until later on. There was also a tree planting ceremony at the town plaza, which is basically the main square in your town where events are usually held, and all my animals attended, as it was basically my initiation ceremony as mayor as well.

As mayor, your first couple of days are spent trying to raise your approval rating to 100%, so that you can get the town development permit so you can start projects in your town to add things such as benches, bridges and more - more things are unlocked as you play more, as the villagers in your town will suggest projects to you, so don't worry if you don't like some of the things you start with, as eventually you will get nicer things suggested to you! Once I got mine, the first thing I decided to build was the campsite, as sometimes you will have a random villager camping in your town, and if you have space in your town you can invite them to move it - you can have up to 10 villagers at a time, and the least number you can have is 8 once you've started your town. Villagers are always moving in and out, and you can tell them to stay or go, depending whether you want them to stay or not, if you get there in time - they will usually give you 5 days notice, so be careful that you check every day, or every other day, to make sure someone you like isn't going to leave with no notice.

So yeah, I won't bore you with much more writing, but you can unlock badges by doing things such as writing lots of letters, saving lots of bells (the currency on Animal Crossing) and playing a lot - there are gold, silver and bronze medals for each category. If you spend enough money in the shops on Main Street - the high street, which is located just over the crossing next to the station, at the top of your town - you can unlock bigger and better shops with more stock, as well as improving your museum - if you manage to expand it once, you will eventually be able to unlock the cafe project, which I personally adore! You can also expand your house more every time you pay off your current mortgage, and there are many different exteriors and bits and pieces you can get for your house too - for example, my house exterior is all mermaid themed, but you can get lots of different things, including fences, doors and mailboxes. Once you have paid off your mortgage completely, you can also change the exterior to a cottage, castle, zen house and more, and if you complete room theme challenges you can also unlock all of the golden exterior items.

If you get bored, you can talk to your villagers, who will give you random jobs to do, such as deliver presents to other villagers, catch them fish/bugs, or sometimes they will invite you to theirs or invite themselves to your house! You can also go fishing and bug hunting for fun, and you will need to do this anyway if you want to fill up your museum. There are also small crosses on the ground every day, and if you get a shovel you can dig these up - they will either be fossils (which you can get identified at the museum) pitfalls (which you will fall down if you're not careful) or gyroids, which mainly appear after it has been raining/snowing - if you put them in your house, they will all move and make different sounds, depending on which gyroid it is.

The more you play, the bigger the tree you planted on your first day will grow, and eventually it will grow big enough for you to sit on the edge - when this happens, you can sit on it and the history of your town will scroll across the screen, so you can see when your villagers moved in, when your town started, when projects were completed and more.

There is so much more you can do, but I feel like I've rambled on enough for now - if you'd like to know anything else, please leave a comment below, and I will answer some more questions if you have any! I'm gonna finish off with some pictures of my town and an assortment of the projects I currently have, as well as pictures of my current villagers! Do any of you play Animal Crossing too, or has this post inspired you to buy it too?