Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

 iOS
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
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  1. Ars Technica
    Nov 23, 2017
    This isn't Animal Crossing. This is a scam. Nintendo should be ashamed for attaching such predatory practices to one of its most family-friendly properties, and nothing short of a full-scale redesign will fix the FarmVille-level rot within this shiny-looking game.
  2. Eurogamer
    Nov 28, 2017
    Animal Crossing has previously shined as a portable game, but this stripped-back mobile spin-off provides none of the same charm.
  3. Glixel
    Nov 30, 2017
    The Nintendo mobile game feels like an Animal Crossing game and an extension of the franchise, but like my hometown, it’s changed—and that’s not always for the better.
  5. Kotaku
    Dec 3, 2017
    Pocket Camp doesn’t feel like it’s about those quiet, simple moments. It’s about my time and my money, and the way the game keeps asking me to spend more of each. It’s manipulation and materialism. I’m being drawn into this just to accumulate stuff, and to optimize the ways I can earn in-game money to pay for more stuff. Maybe at it’s heart, Animal Crossing was always about that, and in this stripped down state I’m seeing it clearly for the first time. I liked pretending that it wasn’t.
  6. Polygon
    Dec 14, 2021
    Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp never gives me a clear reason to keep building my campsite or paying off loans to get a marginally bigger camper (the game’s other, slightly smaller, customizable space). The only concrete goal is inviting more villagers over after they ungratefully ask you have specific items in your campsite. Even for a series that revels in simple pleasures, this is a bit much.
  7. The Verge
    Nov 22, 2017
    Pocket Camp changes things, and ultimately shrinks the experience, but it also keeps just enough of Animal Crossing’s essence to make it work. And the shift to mobile adds something important. Animal Crossing is a game best enjoyed as a daily habit, and there’s no better place for that than on your phone.

Awards & Rankings

95
#95 Best iOS Game of 2017
2
#2 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2017
18
#18 Most Shared iOS Game of 2017

User Reviews

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User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 99 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 99
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 99
  3. Negative: 20 out of 99
  1. SkittleDork7
    Nov 26, 2017
    5
    It's Animal Crossing, so it's fun. However, this is very watered down. It's fun, don't get me wrong. However, it's too simple and feelsIt's Animal Crossing, so it's fun. However, this is very watered down. It's fun, don't get me wrong. However, it's too simple and feels repetitive. I do like it, but I can see why people wouldn't. If you're a super-fan of Animal Crossing like me, I'd say check it out for a day but just go back to New Leaf or Gamecube.… Full Review »
  2. Pixelparrot
    Nov 22, 2017
    10
    This is a great mobile game!
    It's charming, addictive and just adorable.
    The customization system has improved alot! It's super easy to edit    This is a great mobile game!
    It's charming, addictive and just adorable.
    The customization system has improved alot! It's super easy to edit your camp.
    If you have played an animal crossing game before, you know that it's kind of difficult to edit your house. Here they have fixed everything.    … Full Review »
  3. Techbane
    May 31, 2018
    3
    The differences are subtle and sinister in nature, but this isn't the Animal Crossing you know and love -- it's FarmVille wearing a cuddlyThe differences are subtle and sinister in nature, but this isn't the Animal Crossing you know and love -- it's FarmVille wearing a cuddly animal friend skin to mask its avaricious intents. There's no world generation, no actual player interaction, no unique animal populations, no creative outlets for town tunes or clothing; instead there are a series of resource harvesting zones with regenerative timers to deliver things to animals (for which you have limited storage space; expandable with premium currency) to earn materials to craft furniture (and wait for that to be built, or remove the wait with premium currency) to impress other animals and get them to move in. Your one and only creative outlet is furniture arrangement. You can trade resources with friends, but only by offloading things you don't want into market stalls; you can't post or field specific resource requests. K.K. Slider makes his appearance as a limited-availability talking prop obtained for $12.50 of premium currency, with all of 3 lines of dialogue and no music to play for you. There's even the classic "pester 5 friends to access the premium zone" system (or just pay premium currency for every visit).

    Animal Crossing was never about powergaming so it's hard to look at all the wait timers and say they ruin everything on their own, but once you strip out the random generation, exploration, and creativity aspects and constantly needle players about how their lives can be improved by just paying more money (even in the incidental dialogue of the animal characters), you've corrupted what was once an enjoyable unwinding activity into something far more hypocritical and transparently capitalistic in nature.

    TL;DR: It's literally FarmVille with an Animal Crossing skin. AND NOW LOOTBOXES!    … Full Review »
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