I don't really know all that much about the spin-offs created, but I think that they're pretty interesting from what I've seen.
-Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer -
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer was released in mid-2015 for the 3Ds. The main focus of this game was less about the daily tasks and activities of Animal Crossing (i.e. fishing or catching bugs) and was more focused on the design elements the games used. The player is given a job at Nook's Homes as an interior designer, and is supposed to design the villagers' homes. Usually they're given some sort of theme, and then they can design the interior and exterior with an expanded and re-organized catalog exclusive to this game.
This concept is also brought back later in the series with a new premise, and it was a great way to introduce some elements to the series.
- Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival -
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival was a board-game style party game released in late 2015 for the Wii U. This... was not a good game. It got overwhelmingly negative reviews, and according to Wikipedia, "was a commercial failure and received negative reviews from critics who criticised the repetitive gameplay, poor amiibo integration and lack of innovation." There wasn't really any "plot" persay, rather it was just a board game with an Animal Crossing theme. One of the reasons why it got such negative reception was because of the use of amiibos. Amiibos are NFC chips where you can scan in a specific character to the game itself, but sometimes they can be expensive. Not everyone owns one. However, the start of the game requires you to have an amiibo to scan, otherwise you can't access the game. This severely limited the amount of people who could play the game, and could be seen as just another cash grab from Nintendo. Plus, the gameplay itself was considered unoriginal, seeing as how it was just a simple party game with some interesting dialogue. I would probably never play it.
- Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp -
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was released in November 2017 as a mobile game for most devices. The main premise was similar to what was of the main series of games, but the execution was different. The player is now in charge of their own campground, and uses a camper to drive around. This also serves as their house. Also, instead of having one full area for the town/village, it was broken up into 5-6 different areas for the player to visit. This made sense with the mobile layout of the game, and also provided a variety of scenery and things to do. I believe that some mechanics of this game were introduced as a sort of "tester" for later elements that would be used in New Horizons. For example, your outdoor campground could be decorated with a variety of furniture. In the past, you couldn't place any sort of furniture or item outside. Also, the use of different islands and travel might have been tied in with New Horizons. I think that this game is really good for an app, however it does get a bit repetitive. There's a lot of different things to do though, and they even have rotating events to participate in! Another thing this game is really known for is their furniture. Most are only accessed either through suprise fortune cookies or event rewards, but they're some of the most interesting and creative items weve seen!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons released on March 20, 2020 worldwide. It was a huge hit, and after nearly an 8-year gap between games, people were eager to see what had changed.
It was a lot. Instead of the usual train/car introduction, where you go through dialogue with Kapp’n or Rover, you start off at an airport check-in. From there, you soon fly to your own “deserted island getaway” aka an entire island. Then, you start your work. The main plot was as so: After flying to your new home, ayou have to build up an entire island community from scratch. Of course, they give you two villagers to start, and the beginning of the game theres a tutorial, but its mostly just the player. The goal here is to get your island rating to three stars so that the musical star, K.K. Slider, can preform a concert there and generate even more tourism. After that, its all over. Now, you can do whatever you want! Anyway, there was tons of new content, villagers, gameplay, and interactability with this new game. I mean, you could literally change the natural landscape at will. You can place furniture outside!! The customization of your surroundings was almost endless, and people went crazy with it.
Soon, the game almost turned into a sandbox, with new aesthetics and themes popping up left and right. There were cities, mazes, forests, and just regular towns. I really liked this game, and with the way Nintendo continually updated the game for the following year it was out, there was a lot for people to look forward to. However, because the game only got fully fleshed out a year after its release, its longevity was sort of lost. Essentially, game was complete. Now, there was no more novelty of a new update every couple months. I mean, the whole system itself wasnt sustainable in the first place, but it was nice while it lasted. After the last one, a lot of people simply dropped the game (me included :-(( ) and it faded in the background. Nearly 37 million copies were sold worldwide, and it was one of the best-selling Nintendo games along with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The top of the ladder simply became just another quarintine craze. At least, thats how it was for the people around me. I cant speak for anyone else other than my own perspective though, so if you're still playing, I admire your dedication :-)
All in all, I truly enjoyed the time I spent with this game, and I hope that a lot more people decide to play it.