Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Has Sold 1 Million Copies in Europe

Fabulous. Not the animal crossing game I liked though. Wish they'd focus more on the main game and not spin offs.

Not really actually...
My HHD is still being stored in my 3DS Cart box for long time not being played.
Only worthy for Welcome Amiibo Link Data.
The Amiibo Cards for HHD are Really worthy for Welcome Amiibo to unlock specific villagers, but not for HHD.

Whoo...

Eh, I happen to like this game a fair bit. Definitely not New Leaf good, but no way on Earth is it a bad game, unlike amiibo Festival.

I glanced at the picture first. You had my heart racing there for second...

Nintendo had sent an Animal Crossing survey a few weeks ago, I can't wait to hear more news.

In the early hours of
The UK morning, I initially thought this was some kind of Switch reveal...

I thought we got a switch game😭. Oh well, I guess I'll go see my old 2013 New Leaf save file since I'm in the mood now 🤷‍♂️

Home designer could translate to mobile nicely with some crossover to the main Switch game.
Really hoping they utilise the AC cards again, either as new sets or re-released.

When is the Smartphone game releasing?

@Tsurii it's a big niche? I guess?

I love Animal Crossing but I struggle to find the time to play it at the times of day I need to play it.

I've been playing the animal crossing series nonstop over 14 years now. Happy home designer is actually my favorite of them all because it takes my favorite aspects of the game and makes it the focus. I get tired of the traditional version (new leaf, etc) because I am constantly having to run around the town doing the same thing over and over for hundreds of hours (fishing, catching bugs, digging for fossils, etc) just to get money to upgrade my house or buy stuff for it. All I really want to do is collect the stuff and decorate. I was thrilled beyond words when happy home designer came out. I absolutely love that game. I can decorate all I want, even more than I ever could in the traditional version because I can freely choose everything outside (house exterior, yard, etc), plus windows, ceiling, rare or holiday items, ambient sounds, room shape/size, etc. That game is a sweet addiction. I even own over 200 amiibo cards for it too.

It's understandable for a hardcore gamer to think of Animal Crossing as "niche", but last I checked, New Leaf was the best-selling 3DS game that didn't have "Mario" or "Pokémon" in the title. It's clearly a major system-seller too, given the amount of people who seem to play nothing else.

Anyway, I got HHD at launch and still play it. It gets some hate sometimes, but it really is super fun if approached with the right mindset.

HHD was fun for like a few days, maybe a week. It just lost its novelty really quick. And that's coming from me, who enjoys these kinds of games usually.

Speaking of, how did those Amiibo Cards fair saleswise?

Eww!!

I'm not sure Animal Crossing is a niche Nintendo franchise. It's one of their biggest sellers, usually beating out even Zelda in sales.

@CheezIt lovely to hear just how much joy the game has brought you!

I just can't wait for some AC switch news , I think it's long overdue ☺

I liked HHD. However, it felt more like audition for new features for a main game than anything else. Fun, no doubt.

Happy Home Designer at least felt like it fit in with the Animal Crossing universe better then a board game as HHD focused on interior design, which is a big part of the main series. But HHD's biggest flaw was there was no challenge. None of the animals would say anything critical about your design and with no challenge, the game becomes pointless and repetitive. Launching at an original price of $39.99 was ridiculously high for a game so light on content. I do love the soundtrack for it, though.

@ericflapjack This is a common complaint, but it's just missing the point if you ask me. The game offers no challenge because that's not what it's about at all. Rather, it's a creative outlet. You don't ask Photoshop to rate the picture you made. You show it to other people and see what they think of it. That's the real challenge, if you want one: making things that people like, rather than being judged by an algorithm.

I'm still upset that the only device that could've supported multiple players per single console never got a proper Animal Crossing title.

Off-TV multiplayer on Wii U would've been so perfect. Especially with the graphics we saw in Mario Kart 8.

I still haven't picked up this game. At this point, I might as well wait, because it's probably due for a price drop anytime now. Knowing my luck, I would pull the trigger, buy the game and then it would get a price reduction immediately afterwards.

@thesilverbrick
Oh, btw. HHD is required for Welcome Amiibo to rearrange your furniture inside your house with touch screen like on HHD. And the Amiibo cards for HHD are worthy for Welcome Amiibo.

I think it's time to make a main game for the Switch.

@thesilverbrick I have seen the game at many popular US retailers (Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, etc) for $14.99 new. Not sure you'll find it lower than that!

I never got this game as I never really saw of the point of it (well obviously the point of this and Amiibo Festival was to sell Animal Crossing amiibo without a new mainline game). For me, home designing is probably the least fun/interesting aspect of AC, so an AC game purely built around that one aspect wasn't a big draw for me.

@Anti-Matter That's not true. I can arrange the furniture using the touchscreen in my New Leaf game, and I don't own Happy Home Designer. They added that feature for everybody in the large 2016 update.

I do already have a bunch of the amiibo cards. I picked up a couple packs of them, plus I bought individual cards of some of my favorite villagers from sellers on eBay as a safety net just in case any of my favorite neighbors move away in New Leaf. That way, I can call them back and don't have to obsessively login all the time to keep them from escaping.

@Anti-Matter not only that, but you can transfer your HHD inventory to your welcome amiibo new leaf game!

@CheezIt I didn't realize it had received a price reduction. I assumed it was still 40 bucks. If I can find it at that price, I'll grab it. Thanks for the tip.

Having HHD unlocks a Nook's Homes model and the giant furniture items from the Happy Home Network contest. It doesn't transfer your inventory and isn't required for the touchscreen controls, which are just unlocked by building the secret storeroom.

@thesilverbrick you're welcome. I bought a 2nd copy in May for $14.99 (and waited) to play on my new 2DS XL with the amiibo cards I'd been buying on clearance & eBay this summer. But I've still been seeing it that price. Another retailer I forgot to mention that had it (for $15) was Target.

@Zyrac
I got same problem with HHD.
Designing a house is really interesting.
But, if just only designing and watching after finished, it looks same as the situation that I found on My Sims Kingdom.

The flaws from My Sims Kingdom were just only Build, Interact with objects but actually pretend to use those objects (pretend cooking, pretend washing, pretend etc)

Also, the problems for Public places on HHD were same. Just Build, decorate, watch the situation, pretend doing something, No mini games, No tycoon aspects, no proper gameplay. It just boring after post game.

@thesilverbrick
Arrange the furnitures with HHD Link Data will make your house makeover effortless. Just only touch, drag, swap and finished.

@CheezIt
Eh ?
Hm... interesting.
I have Tom Nook & Timmy Tommy Amiibo but used for Miitopia and New Leaf.
Haven't tried yet for HHD.

@CheezIt The digital version is even available at a reduced price (I feel dumb for not checking before my first comment here). Granted, it's $20 digitally instead of 15, but this is the kind of game I probably would want in a digital format because it's something I would pick up and play short bursts between other games. I will give it a go likely when I get home this evening. After your rave review of it above, I'm anxious to try it out.

@Anti-Matter Personally I just think a game where I can set up pictures like this is not boring:

But I appreciate that it's a matter of taste.

@Anti-Matter I did like when they added that feature to New Leaf. Makes me wonder why they didn't think of that feature earlier, as they could have been doing it as far back as Wild World on the original DS.

HHD is the only AC game I don't have. I need to get it at some point. In the meanwhile, bring on the mobile incarnation!

@thesilverbrick if you have enjoyed the decorating/customization aspect of any animal crossing game, I'm sure you will love this one. Especially as you unlock the many options and items and become familiar with how it works. Also, I could be wrong on this, but I thought that maybe MyNintendo offers a discount on the digital version with earned coins if you have them.

That was a lovely little game wasn't it?

I'm sorry Mitch, but Animal Crossing is not niche.
Animal Crossing sold 2.32
Animal Crossing Wild World sold 11.75
Animal Crossing City Folk sold 3.38
Animal Crossing New Leaf sold 11.09
Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer sold 3.04
These number are NOT niche....
Zelda OoT: 3D 4.52 + Original 7.6 = 12.12m
Zelda TP: GCN 1.43 + Wii 7.26 = HD No number but not a million = 9.6 tops.
Those two are the best selling Zelda games to date. ONLY OoT sold better than Animal Crossing New Leaf and Wild World but that's only because it includes the remake.
Animal Crossing is NOT a niche franchise.
Sure those are Pokemon numbers... But Animal Crossing is definitely one of these top franchises.

I'm sure (insert nintendo franchise) amiibo Festival would have sold just as bad as ACaF did.

Yeah, I can't explain why the game is so enjoyable for me but at 220 hours, I must like it. Ultimately, it feels less like a game and more a piece of creativity software. And once I start designing a room, it's not uncommon for me to spend 2-3 hours perfecting it.

Who would think Animal Crossing is niche? Its one of the Best selling franchises in 3DS, and one of the Best selling franchises for non "hardcore" gaming segments, like women and children ñ.

@thesilverbrick I did confirm that My Nintendo has a 30% discount on happy home designer with 600 (platinum?) coins. That's actually a better price than I paid, although I did get an extra SP amiibo card with mine (unfortunately though it was one I'd already had).

@CheezIt Thanks! I appreciate the heads up. I honestly wouldn't have even thought to check. I'm so disillusioned with how poorly My Nintendo has been handled that I don't even bother checking for discounts anymore, because they usually don't benefit me. Go figure; one finally does, and I would have completely missed it. I've got thousands of platinum points sitting around, so I'm glad I can actually put them to use for something I actually want, for a change.

@thesilverbrick cool, I'm glad that helps. I'm fed up to no end with their "rewards". Gone are the days of collecting all these cool tangible items of the good Club Nintendo years. Sigh. I've spent these coins now (if I catch them before they expire) on things I don't even really want, like themes or, well, I guess that's about all. All the games they offer discounts on I either already have or don't want.

@CheezIt I think the most criminal part of these "rewards" is the fact that they require you to spend more money. The only thing you get for your loyalty is a push to buy more before either your coins expire or the offers disappear. It's ridiculous. I wish they would at least give me a way to turn my gold coins into even a tiny amount of eShop credit, sort of like they did with the Digital Deluxe Promotion when the Wii U launched.

@thesilverbrick that would be so nice, coins for eShop credit... but, alas, Nintendo is far too cheap to go that route. They'd rather take our coins and in return give us a virtual T-shirt for that mii app for mobile devices that everyone forgot existed already.

I really liked HHD when it first came out and I used to play it and upload my homes almost daily. It might not have been the Animal crossing we wanted but it was refreshing and cute.

I play HHD more than NL now. It's perfect for short bursts of play (which is about all I have time for nowadays).