Summary
Animal Crossing: New Horizonswas a smash hit for Nintendo, turning the once niche franchise into one of the company’s most recognizable series.New Horizonsachieved this feat because of its immense amount of customization options and the ability for players to share their creations with others at a time when people were unable to be together. The success ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsand other games likeStardew Valleyin recent years has created a boom in the cozy game genre. What was once a niche space is now growing, and futureAnimal Crossinggames will need to learn from other entries in the life simulation and cozy game genres if it wants to keep up with the competition.
Persona 5 Royalis by no means a cozy game, but aspects of it pull from the dating and life-simulator genres, much like cozy games have.Persona 5’s confidantssystem tracks the player’s relationship with each character and rewards building strong connections. On top of using time to interact with confidants, the player can, much like inAnimal Crossing, craft or perform tasks to earn money.Persona’s social simulation systems are much more limited, and it compresses the player’s schedule rather than playing out in real time, but there are still things thatACcould borrow fromP5. One such concept isPersona 5’s approach to part-time jobs.
Animal Crossing Could Borrow From Persona 5’s Job System
Part-time jobs inPersona 5are a good way for players to earn money. They also serve as a productive way to pass the time when there is nothing more urgent to do.Animal Crossinghas traditionally had players make money through selling items or participating in the turnip trade. While this loop has worked for the franchise for over two decades now, adding more ways to make money could flesh out the experience. Letting players work at Nook’s Cranny rather than only selling their items there or having them perform other jobs around town could be a fun new feature in the next game.
Jobs Could Add Mini-Games to Animal Crossing
Another venue that could offer work to the player isBrewster’s Cafe. These jobs could take the form of mini-games, such as making coffee orders or racing to organize the inventory shop’s inventory. IfAnimal Crossingwere to drop its dedication to real-time gameplay, then it could be used as a way to pass the time while making money, just like inPersona 5. Nintendo games often remind players to take breaks, so another alternative could be letting players commit to working a certain amount of time and having the work be automated. This would gamify taking breaks, and allow players to use the feature as a way to be rewarded for taking some time away from their system.
Jobs Could Impact Reputation in Animal Crossing
Working a job inAnimal Crossingcould also provide more social interactions with villagers. For instance, if players were tasked with making deliveries for the cafe or Nook’s Cranny, it could give them unique interactions with the recipients. Villagers could potentially come to know the player for working for one business a lot and loyal service to a company could result in bonuses, promotions, employee discounts, and unique interactions with its owner. On top of being a way toearn money inAnimal Crossingand providing a new set of activities for players, part-time jobs could impact the social simulation mechanics that lie at the heart of the series.
Borrowing fromPersona 5’s job system could help the nextAnimal Crossinggame to stand out from its predecessors and feel even more immersive.Persona 5isn’t the only game it should borrow from, however;Paliahas featuresAnimal Crossingshould copy, as do other cozy games likeStardew Valley,The Sims 4,andDisney Dreamlight Valley.Animal Crossingmay have opened the door for many other games in the cozy genre, but that doesn’t mean it can stop growing from entry to entry. A job system would be one of many great ways to keep pushing the series forward.
