Reimagining Animal Crossing: Designing for a Cosier, Smoother Experience

Cosy games to me are a chance to breathe; they're a small form of escapism without pressure, without adversarial challenges, and without stress. They offer a space where your actions feel meaningful and impactful, and where simply being present is appreciated, no matter what you do or don't do. The core of my design philosophy is simple: if a player enjoys their time with my game, then I’ve achieved my goal. Accessibility, flow, and consideration for the player’s time are all guiding principles I aim to incorporate with every project.

When I first played Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it was at the start of the summer of the Covid-19 pandemic. The game offered a much-needed escape from the negativity and restrictions of the time. It provided a stress-free environment and social interactions that were otherwise limited, creating a wider sense of community across the world. This is the magic that drew me in and continues to define the appeal of cosy games.

However, as much as I loved the world and its charm, there were frustrations that affected the experience. Multiplayer, for example, was slow and clunky. Players had to navigate a cumbersome interface, endure long cutscenes, and join one at a time, which could stretch the process to over a minute per person. This was echoed by the wider community; while everyone appreciated being able to hang out virtually with friends, the process to do so often disrupted the experience and created unnecessary downtime.

Crafting was another area where the game fell short of modern expectations. Bulk crafting was not supported, and crafting from storage was limited — despite players often having alternative systems like the Storage Shed, items still needed to be in the player’s immediate inventory to craft. These gaps in quality-of-life features, while small in isolation, collectively slowed down the player’s ability to engage fully with the game and enjoy the freedom it promised.

In reimagining these systems, the focus is on accessibility and streamlining the experience. Multiplayer should be fast and unobtrusive; UI and backend improvements, reduced cutscene lengths, and batch joining are simple yet impactful ways to allow players to connect and start playing with minimal delay. Crafting systems should feel intuitive, with bulk options and storage-linked crafting that either pull from nearby stations or global storage, ensuring the player’s time is respected and their creative flow uninterrupted.

Ultimately, the redesigned experience would polish and refine rather than overhaul the core feel of the game, and to give further detail on the changes I would make I have drafted a Game Design Document, which you can download below. The charm of Animal Crossing is already well established, but even such a genre-defining title must keep up with modern expectations. Innovation within the cosy game space is critical, not just to meet current standards but to lead the way in improving how players relax, create, and connect.