Hello Kitty Island Adventure, a life simulation game with strong similarities to the Animal Crossing franchise, recently launched on PC and Nintendo Switch. It initially debuted in July 2023 as an Apple Arcade exclusive. However, January 30 marked a significant milestone for the Sanrio title as it expanded to other platforms, with a PlayStation release targeted for some time in 2025 as well.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure‘s popularity can be attributed to several factors, including its iconic characters, cozy atmosphere, and Animal Crossing-like gameplay. One area where it stands out is its expansive map and numerous explorable biomes. If Nintendo opted to take inspiration from Hello Kitty Island Adventure, the next Animal Crossing could find great success with this feature.
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The Next Animal Crossing Should Embrace a Larger Map
Hello Kitty Island Adventure Makes the Case for Bigger Islands
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has nearly 100 default island layouts, according to research done by Reddit user gamingchibix. Variations on islands include, but aren’t limited to:
- Airport location and color
- Redd’s Treasure Trawler location
- Shoreline location
- River mouth location
- Native fruit
- Native flowers
While this offers an impressive amount of variety, the islands themselves aren’t very large, which may leave some players wanting in terms of unique scenery and space to fill. Fortunately, there is a solution within Hello Kitty Island Adventure‘s diverse locations. Settings suсh as Seaside Resort, Spooky Swamp, Icy Peak, Rаinbow Reef, Mount HotHead, Gemstone Mountain, аnd Merry Meadow deliver a satisfying arrаy of environments for exploration. Not only are different items collectible in these biomes, but Hello Kitty Island Adventure‘s enormous map ensures plenty of areas to explore.
Animal Crossing could adopt this concept now that Sunblink Entertainment’s game has proven it works. In this case, bigger could also mean better. In the next Animal Crossing game, players could potentially have more than ten villagers without worrying as much about running out of space to house them. In this manner, players wouldn’t need to remove villagers they’ve formed an emotional attachment to in favor of a new villager if it comes down to it.
Furthermore, increasing the map size could also address some players’ frustrations with the proximity of villagers’ homes, points of interest, and decorations. Bigger plots of land, in addition to more land mass to terraform and customize, seem like a guaranteed way to retain player interest, especially since some have noted that they run out of things to do after a certain point. While it’s inevitable that players will eventually reach the end of the story in any Animal Crossing game, providing more customization features could help alleviate some of these concerns.
Similarly, Hello Kitty Island Adventure might benefit from a future update if it offered a few more in-depth mechanics, such as environmental decoration and terraforming, like in Animal Crossing. Currently, players have the option to decorate their cabins and Visitor Cabins, which offers a fun way to personalize individual spaces. However, this does not include plots of land, which some fans have expressed they would love to tailor to their tastes.
Nintendo has yet to confirm if another Animal Crossing game will be released or if one is already in development. However, given the overwhelming success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it seems likely. Some rumors have even suggested a future installment could arrive on the Switch 2, and the stronger hardware could certainly support a larger map. With the next game likely still some time away, developers should have ample time to consider adopting some of Hello Kitty Island Adventure‘s most popular features.
