Unearthing the Secrets: How Animal Crossing Can Take a Page from Stardew Valley's Mining Adventure

Highlights

Animal Crossing has been a beloved social simulation game for years, and Nintendo constantly adds new features to keep each experience unique.

Stardew Valley, a game resembling Animal Crossing, features caves where players can explore and collect resources. Animal Crossing would greatly benefit from incorporating a comparable cave biome, expanding the map's exploration potential.

The introduction of caves in Animal Crossing would bring forth fresh elements for exploration, potentially introducing new creatures such as bats. Moreover, it would enrich the fossil collecting aspect of the game, offering a more dynamic and immersive experience.

Animal Crossing has been a beloved addition to the social simulation genre since the early 2000s, with standout titles such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Animal Crossing: Wild World. Each installment in the series follows a familiar formula, yet Nintendo ensures that each experience is truly unique by continuously introducing fresh features.

Following the unexpected success of Stardew Valley, which drew inspiration from Harvest Moon, several games have emerged in a similar vein. While Animal Crossing shares some similarities with Stardew Valley, such as their open-ended nature, it diverges from the farm simulator genre. Nonetheless, there are notable commonalities between the two, and Nintendo could potentially draw inspiration from Stardew Valley's Mines for its next Animal Crossing release.

Animal Crossing Exploration Could Benefit From Locations Like Mines

Animal Crossing has the potential to continue providing players with new and exciting situations in its upcoming game. Despite the absence of an official announcement for the next title, it is highly unlikely that the franchise will be abandoned considering the overwhelming success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Consequently, both returning and new players will have high expectations for the future installments.

Although each game introduces various new features, none of the previous games offer the experience of exploring caves, similar to The Mines found in Stardew Valley. Currently, the only existing caves in the series are purely decorative items that were introduced in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update. Should Nintendo choose to incorporate a cave biome into the life simulation, it would open up a whole new section of the map for players to discover.

In Stardew Valley, the caves serve as great spots for gathering materials such as gems, coal, and stones. However, players must combat enemy NPCs to progress further into The Mines. Animal Crossing, on the other hand, doesn't include combat in its gameplay, but it could still incorporate the concept of caves. While exploring these darker areas, players might come across harmful critters like falling wasps, tarantulas, or scorpions. These enemies cannot cause harm to villagers, but they should be avoided or caught with a net to prevent setbacks in progress.

In Animal Crossing, the addition of caves could introduce a new creature like bats. Currently, bats do not exist in the series, although some fans have advocated for bat villagers to be included. If bats were introduced, players would likely need to steer clear of them to continue their exploration in the caves.

Fossils in Animal Crossing: New Horizons have the potential to be taken to the next level. In this 2020 game, players are required to dig around their islands to search for fossils. While it doesn't necessarily have to be removed from the next game entirely, it could be intriguing to introduce fossils in caves as well. Currently, Animal Crossing lacks a pickaxe similar to the one in Disney Dreamlight Valley, but including this useful tool for mining fossils could enhance the gameplay.

Enhancing the Animal Crossing franchise with more exploration elements could heighten the appeal of the next title. This would also add a dynamic aspect to fossil gathering, as there could be multiple ways to discover them. Although Nintendo's plans for a sequel to Animal Crossing: New Horizons are yet to be determined, it would be exciting if they drew inspiration from other games.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.