It’s that time of year in Animal Crossing . Snow is on the ground, which means you can bring snowmen to life. Except Animal Crossing: New Leaf takes it a step further. This is the first installment in the series where you aren’t just building one snowman. Players are tasked with the creation of a whole snow family. It’s a big responsibility and while there are some rewards, a few members of this unit are more than a little demanding.
Basically, this is an event that can be a nightmare for Animal Crossing completionists. The only Snowpeople that can be considered remotely easy are the Snowman and Snowmam, and even they require a certain time investment to get that sweet, sweet exclusive furniture. You can only make one snowperson a day, and each one is only around for 4 days. Since their season only lasts until Valentine’s Day, there’s a lot of work ahead of you.
Let’s start with the Snowman. The Snowman is a nightmare creature, who demands you play Bingo with him when he’s completed. He towers over the rest of his family, and his base snowball must be at least up to your character’s ear, perhaps even bigger. The head snowball must be a tad smaller than the base, but still quite large. Put the two together, and he’ll bestow upon the user a bingo card.
Each day a Snowman is around, a player can spin his eyes to get a bingo number. If the number is on the card, you can tap to claim that spot. Once you get a bingo, you get a piece of furniture or wallpaper that’s related to winter sports, like a bobsled or snowmobile, and have to return the next day for a new bingo card. He has 10 items to give away in all, and as long as he looks marginally right, you’ll be able to play bingo.
The Snowmam is next and she’s also pretty easy. The base snowball should be chin-height, and the head just a tad smaller. Once she’s come to life, she’ll ask you for snowflakes, and will provide a piece of the ice furniture series in return. A perfect Snowmam will only need 3 snowflakes, while a general one will request 5. Snowflakes float around town once snow has covered the ground, and must be caught with a bug net. They’re fairly large, about the size of a piece of Animal Crossing: New Leaf fruit, and make a distinctive jingling noise when they’re on-screen. You can get more than one piece of furniture from Snowmam in a single day, so those with a lot of free time can easily get all 13 pieces from the ice set in the four days she’s around.
While the snowparents are easy, the kids are the thing of Animal Crossing: New Leaf nightmares. If you don’t do things just right, you aren’t getting their furniture, and you know you want those special items. It’s a toss up as to which is more demanding, in my opinion. The Snowboy has frustrating demands (teenagers), but the Snowtyke takes into account the quality of the snowfamily as a whole and requires you to waste days making him.
Personally, I’ve found the Snowboy is the bane of my existance. His base snowball has to be up to a player character’s ear, with the head snowball just a bit smaller. The problem is, you have to get him just right to obtain one of the 15 snowman furniture items or the snowman hat. If you don’t meet his precise demands, you get nothing. Just another snowman taking up valuable space in your town. I’ve made three Snowboys thus far, and none have been satisfied with my craftmanship, so good luck with that.
Yet, for some, the Snowtyke may prove the most challenging of all. He’s actually the easiest member of the family to make. His base snowball just has to be smaller than the player character’s chin, and the head is just a tad smaller than that. However you have to jump through some hoops get his items. First, he needs to have all three other members of the family present before he’ll give you a gift. Which means within the four days he’s around, the Snowman, Snowmam, and Snowboy must be present. (Or, you have to make them before you make him.) He then takes into account the quality of the other family members. You get one of four different gifts, depending on how well made the others are. It’s a case where it’s actually easiest to get the best gift (Snowman Matryoshka) first, but then have trouble getting the other four since it means purposely messing up the rest of the family.
Whew! With all those demands, the Animal Crossing: New Leaf snowfamily probably makes yours seem like a pleasure to be around!