Animal Crossing has long been a series where humans can interact with animal villagers. Players have to work hard to pay off their house debts to the Nook family, but otherwise, the game is family-friendly.
Nintendo has added more gameplay and other ways to enjoy the game, in the newest installment Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but there has also been some controversy. In the first game, players were using cheat codes through letters to get rich quick. In other games, players changed the time of their devices to skip ahead when they’ve done all they could in a day.
While there’s no single way to play Animal Crossing, Japanese players on Twitter have begun to share stories of fraud, bullying, and manipulating the turnip market.
The conversation began on Twitter, where a Japanese player began venting about their woes with Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The biggest hot topic was between “animal trafficking.” Players have been paying real-life money and in-game bells to acquire their favorite villages—one of the most popular villagers being Raymond, a cat with heterochromia. Players can either find him on a random island with a Nook Miles Ticket or by trading with another player.
If a player’s island is full, they’ll likely want to evict someone, which is there the “bullying” can take place. Players can hit a villager with their net, push them into pitfalls, or put up a fence, so the villager lives a lonely island life. Once thought bubbles appear over their heads, the villager may admit they want to leave.
The turnip market was also part of the discussion. Players have to scout around social media and forums to see whose island is buying them the most. Players looking to make money fast also recently caused Nintendo to lower the spawn rate of some high-selling insects.
One player allowed strangers to come to their island to resell turnips at a high price. They required others to “pay” with one Nook Miles Ticket. After receiving several tickets, this gamer resold them on auction sites, earning up to 400,000 yen or around $3,750.
Of course, not everyone takes the game seriously and just wants to have fun. Others spend long hours trying to make their island a nice place for themselves and their animal residents.
Nintendo has added more security for those who want to protect their islands. Players can invite strangers with short term use Dodo Codes instead of giving them their Switch friend code. Nintendo is also suggesting players take the added step to add two-factor security to all accounts due to a recent uptick in unauthorized account access.
