Animal Crossing: City Folk Deluxe Winning High Praise From Gamers

If you’re sick of waiting for Nintendo to get off their butts and release a new Animal Crossing game (that isn’t on mobile), then I have some great news for you, because one very talented individual has taken it upon themselves to release a brand new update for one of the series’ most reviled games.

If you can believe it, we haven’t had a new mainline Animal Crossing game in over five years, following the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch back in March 2020.

Technically, we have sort of had a new Animal Crossing game– and no, before you ask, I’m not talking about that weird rip-off that just popped up on the PlayStation Store.

Pocket Camp Complete, the re-released, offline version of the 2017 mobile title Pocket Camp, is by all accounts a great Animal Crossing game… but it’s only available on mobile.

So, if you want to play a fresh Animal Crossing game in 2025, what are your options? Well, the folks over on Reddit won’t stop harping on about Animal Crossing: City Folk Deluxe, and for good reason.

The hardcore fans among you may already be a little confused by the suggestion however, because Animal Crossing: City Folk, the Wii-exclusive title that released back in 2008, is often considered to be the worst entry in the franchise, so what exactly could a “Deluxe” version of the game offer?

Aurum, the modder behind the project, has gone out of their way to fix a bunch of the issues that were present in the original release of the game, including an extended calendar that ends in 2099, several new additions to the character creator (including skin tones), and re-integrated online functionality.

This is all alongside a whole slew of extra content, such as 94 unreleased items, a whopping 239 new villagers, and even 35 original items that Aurum designed specifically for the mod.

If you want to try out the mod for yourself, head on over to Aurum’s website and follow the installation guide to get things up and running. And, if you own the original game on the Wii, you can even get this mod up and running using original Nintendo hardware.

Hopefully Nintendo is cooking up a new Animal Crossing title now that the Nintendo Switch 2 has finally dropped, but until then, this is your best shot at getting some fresh AC content in your life.