The release ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizonshas once again introduced gamers to a colorful world full of fruit, bugs, fish, and all your favorite animal pals. Fan favorites, like Pietro and Egbert, are met by new introductions, like Audie the Wolf, each bringing their own personalities and flavor to players' island oases.
For too long, though, these animals have been playing second fiddle (or guitar, but we’ll get to that in a second) to the player character. For someone who doesn’t speak, it sure is surprising that they’ve headlined more games than some ofAnimal Crossing’s most iconic. Here are 10Animal Crossingcharacters that deserve their own spin-off game!
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10K.K. Slider
For many, K.K. is synonymous withAnimal Crossinghimself. The musically inclined dog has gone from indie-roadshow guitarist to worldwide sensation over the course of the games. Despite his limited appearances, though, it’s time for him to have his own game.
Maybe the perfect fit for a K.K. thing would be reviving a genre that’s been dormant in the last few years. Games likeRock BandandGuitarHerowere a great way for friends and families to use cool peripherals to get together and chase the feeling of rocking out, and a game where you jam along with K.K. and all of his greatest hits would be a perfect chord.
9Tom Nook
Tom Nook, the tanooki behind all of your financial and urban development ventures inNew Horizons, has an eye for business. In each pastAnimal Crossinggame, we’ve seen Tom take a special interest in the player’s town, but inNew Horizonsespecially, it’s very clear that he has a lot of paws in a lot of pies.
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A Tom Nook game could look a lot like aSimCitygame, in which you take one or more development projects and acquire the bells needed to make the dream come true. It’s a lot like a macro version of the player’s experience, only with a wider purview and the ability to build two bridges at once.
8Wilbur & Orville
These delightful newcomers are as chipper as they are blue, and talking to them whenever the player takes a trip on Dodo Airlines is always a treat. A game starring them could be anything from a simple passenger-transport business sim to a high-flyingAce Combat-esque experience.
These dodos also clearly have a fun history together and a chance to explore that backstory and camaraderie would surely capture some of thatAnimal Crossingfriendship magic the series is known for. Besides, isn’t anyone else curious about what Wilbur’s air traffic code means?
7Gulliver
Gulliver, the naval seagull with notorious bad luck, often finds himself washed up on the player’s beach mumbling something about an ambiguous shipwreck. But what is hereallyhiding? Clearly, the bird knows more than he lets on, and his crew seems… distant… at best.
It’s time for Gulliver to get a game of his own that explores the tragic backstory of him, his ship, and his crew. Perhaps a narrative exploration mystery in the vein ofReturn of the Obra Dinn? Or maybe it’s a point-and-click adventure game in the vein of Robert Egger’sThe Lighthouse. Regardless, it’s time to find out what the bird knows aboutLovecraftian horror.
6Timmy & Tommy Nook
Tom Nook’s sons, Timmy and Tommy, have always been part of the series, but withNew Horizonsthey’ve taken much more of a starring role. Unlike their dear old dad, however, the young tanookis seem pretty at ease just running their shop without dreams of a sprawling empire (yet).
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A shop management game with these two would be plenty of fun, and could even answer some questions fans of the series have been asking for a while. Why do they pay for all these fish, bugs, and weeds? What do they do with them afterward? Why can’t they just sell me fish bait so I can catch this stupid string fish before March is over?
5Wisp
Sure, Wisp is a coward. We know that much. So why would he ever be a candidate for his own spin-off? It’s worth remembering, though, that Nintendo has a long history of making games about cowards; in fact, the first entry in both theAnimal CrossingandLuigi’s Mansionseries came out in 2001.
Wisp would be a great partner to Luigi the next time they both find themselves in a haunted mansion. It takes a ghost to know one, right? A ghost fighting ghosts alongside a ghost hunter would be like a Nintendo-ized version of the movieBright, except, you know… good.
4Pete
Remember when everyone’s favorite mail delivery bird gave Isabelle the invitation to be inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate? Questions about howSmashinvites are doled out aside (did someone… mail Ganondorf?), it reminded us of just how exciting Pete’s life as a mailman must be.
This could be a more arcade-y game, with players tasked to deliver as many letters to the right people as possible in a given amount of time. It could also be aDeath Strandingriff, featuring Pete getting mail to famous Nintendo characters with new Kojima names, such as Linkman Swordman or Liquid Mario.
3Blathers
Of COURSE Blathers deserves a spin-off. This owl has been taking players' fish, bugs, and dinosaur parts for the better part of two decades now, so isn’t it about time that he got a little bit of the spotlight? Sure, a game starring him could just let you decorate the museum however you want, but what was he like in his younger days?
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ImagineTomb Raider… but with an owl. Pretty good, right? What kind of supernatural wonders did the avian fellow see in his youth? Did he ever dual wield pistols while wearing a crop-top? While an action-adventure game might not seem super “Blathers” at first, it could actually prove to be a fun, unique experience.
2Brewster
Animal Crossingis all about slowing down and taking time to smell the roses. Or, in the case of Brewster, the beans. This pigeon is a calm and collected barista who just wants to give the town residents a nice, hot cup of mud.
A Brewster-focused game could honestly just be about making different cups of coffee to match different tastes, similar to this year’sCoffee Talk. A more extreme game could be some sort ofSmash-esque experience with all of gaming’s most famous bean-heads coming together to make the perfect cup of Joe (looking at you,Sojiro Sakura).
1Mr. Resetti
The advent of auto-saving, it seems, has somewhat disenfranchised Mr. Resetti, the horrible little mole who used to yell at you for not saving properly. So what kind of spin-off should he get to stay in the zeitgeist?
It’s not exactly clear what kind of marketable skills Resetti has other than being quite good at yelling, so maybe some sort of middle-management simulator would be a good fit. His cousin Vinny is seemingly involved in organized crime, which could lead to a fun (if sanitized) crime game for the man. Honestly, it’s just important that he finds work. If anyoneneedsa spin-off, it’s him.
