Something interesting happened in the latest Nintendo Direct. We not only saw more standard Amiibos, but were also introduced to the plush Yarn Yoshi Amiibos for Yoshi’s Woolly World and saw the Amiibo cards for the first time. It’s evident that Nintendo has seen NFC work for them and isn’t backing off, but something else rather important came up. Basically, the company is introducing tying the first Amiibo cards to one of the best possible properties.
The Amiibo cards will debut with an Animal Crossing series that connects to the 3DS game Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer . The game and cards will all be out this fall, and it’s a situation where you’ll absolutely need one to enjoy the other. It’s a symbiotic relationship, which could help or hurt the game.
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer lets people be designers for villagers. Tapping an Amiibo card to the New 3DS XL or NFC reader, which will also be released at the same time for 2DS and 3DS owners, gives players a task. A villager will have an empty home and ask for a certain kind of interior decor. An example from the Nintendo Direct was, “A home fit for a bookworm.” You complete the task, maybe scan more cards to invite extra villagers to see the final result, and of course take screenshots to share. It’s the sort of thing that will appeal to only certain members of Nintendo’s fanbase, but it seems like it could really work.
Think about it. Animal Crossing fans are devoted to the series, and part of the fun is getting to design spaces within the game. The problem is, you only get one home to ever furnish. Four at most, should you decide to make extra characters. Also, money ends up being an issue. By buying Amiibo cards to add new villagers, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer players could, theoretically, have at least 333 characters to choose from if it taps into the full pool available in Animal Crossing: New Leaf .
Priced right, the Amiibo cards could be impulse purchases. Hell, make Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer a free eShop game and offer 1-5 built-in villagers. Price a pack of Amiibo cards, which would perhaps include 5-8 cards, at $4.99. People might pick up a pack out of curiosity, which would get them used to the idea of using Amiibo cards with more games.
Plus, there’s potential for increased functionality. The Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Amiibo cards all feature villagers. Every Nintendo console gets an Animal Crossing installment, and the Wii U’s version is overdue. I know part of the reason I’ll collect this line of Amiibo cards is the hope that they might have some functionality with that game. I doubt I’m alone. By combining the first wave of cards with something so notable, Nintendo has created a situation where people may opt in on the chance they they’ll eventually work with additional games.
Now, I don’t know how good of a game Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer could be. Given how reliant it appears to be on the cards and the nature of the requests, it could end up turning into something that gets really old, really fast. But, it will be a good way to get people accustomed to this form of Amiibo. Plus, the cards could prove reusable when the inevitable Wii U Animal Crossing installment rolls around.