Creativity in Animal Crossing

"think anything..."

Animal Crossing's world honors the pursuit of self-expression in most of your "daily life." As noted before, you can choose whatever fashions, home decor, daily routine, and other collections you wish. You can even pursue an award for the Perfect Town in some iterations of the series. It's all up to you. Even though the HRA may take off points for your unique decor taste, and even though your Feng Shui-derived luck may take a hit, you'll still have a wonderful game experience no matter what.

Some Examples

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Expressing creativity in Animal Crossing's world happens first at the Able Sisters' design shop--playing around here can result in lovely things like custom interior decor, bespoke clothing, and even DIY sidewalks/roads and path patterns! The images at left and below are just a few examples gleaned from the Animal Crossing community.

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However, that's not where it has to end. You can also edit your town's tune, plant self-designed orchards and orderly forest groves, and breed new flowers, as seen in the images at left and below. And happily, there are even further ways to tap into in-game creativity like this! (In my case, I arrange various musical instruments together in a small space and activate them in quick succession to play the town tune in round form--my favorite instruments to play together are piano, harp, and violin.)

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The Point of All This

This freedom and self-expression gives Animal Crossing's world a sweeter taste; just as in real life, the production and display of art in all forms makes things seem a little richer and more meaningful. Even when the point of one's art is to grow more fruit trees or make rare flowers, it's still art! It's also something that other players will see when they come to your town, and maybe they will become inspired to create things when they go back "home." And even if no one else ever sees it, you'll experience it every time you log in, and it will make you smile to know you created something. I find this beautiful, and it's one of the best parts of Animal Crossing for me.