In the grand tradition of the simulation genre, both Hello Kitty: Island Adventure and the Animal Crossing franchise have decently long rosters of adorable characters for players to latch onto. Animal Crossing has a notoriously lengthy list of Villagers for gamers to obsess over. But despite only releasing for PC and some consoles in January, Hello Kitty: Island Adventure’s roster of villagers has one thing above Animal Crossing’s – decades of brand recognition. Hello Kitty celebrated her 50th birthday last year, making her far older than even Animal Crossing’s first installment.
With such heavy brand recognition involved in Hello Kitty: Island Adventure, Sanrio and developer Sunblink Entertainment understood that a large chunk of the game’s playerbase would go into the simulation with specific characters in mind. This gives Hello Kitty: Island Adventure and the Animal Crossing franchise another key similarity with Villager hunting. While all Animal Crossing titles have seen their fair share of Villager hunting, New Horizons’ reputation for the sport is legendary. However, it appears that Sanrio and Sunblink took notes on Animal Crossing’s Villager problem and made Hello Kitty: Island Adventure with a game plan to combat Villager hunting.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure Pulls the Trigger on Something Animal Crossing Should Have Added Ages Ago
Hello Kitty Island Adventure has made a splash with its PC and Nintendo Switch release, and Animal Crossing should certainly take notice.
Hello Kitty: Island Adventure Teaches Players to Prepare for Visitors
New Horizons’ roster of Villagers shows up on a player’s island based on RNG. Players can get a bit more choice with Villagers by using Nook Miles Tickets and Amiibo Cards. Hello Kitty: Island Adventure has a different approach, giving players a concrete way to invite their favorites to the island.
Hello Kitty: Island Adventure does give players a set roster of characters to know and befriend, but players can invite characters outside this initial gang by preparing a visitor cabin. Different characters obviously have different preferences, thereby affecting how they want the Visitor Cabin decorated for their stay. For example, Chiffon wants a Tropical Bed, a Pirate Chest/Dresser, a Rustic Bookcase, a Spooky Lounge Sofa, and a Coastal Decorative Plant in the Visitor Cabin. Once these requirements are met, she will stay in the visitor cabin. Players that know of these requirements ahead of time are able to focus on drawing in the visitors they want rather than trying to get lucky during random selection.
Though Hello Kitty: Island Adventure’s character roster is not as enormous as Animal Crossing’s, the game still has plenty of room to expand when looking at the number of unutilized Sanrio characters the game has left to explore. The Villager disparity between the Animal Crossing franchise and Hello Kitty: Island Adventure does not mean that Animal Crossing can’t utilize its competitor’s approach to Villager hunting. Instead, Animal Crossing needs to make a few tweaks to Hello Kitty: Island Adventure’s approach before implementing it into the franchise’s next title.
How Animal Crossing Could Borrow Hello Kitty: Island Adventure's Approach
The Animal Crossing franchise has well over a hundred Villagers compared to Hello Kitty: Island Adventure’s roughly fifty. Fortunately, Animal Crossing categorizes all of its Villagers not just by species, but by personality type. Furniture items are similarly categorized by the Happy Home Academy (HHA). While these categories may not be exactly the same as Villager personality types, the naming conventions are similar enough that furniture items featured under a certain category could appeal to Villagers of a certain personality type.
For example, the HHA categorizes some furniture items under “Sports.” Perhaps decorating a home with Sports items could attract Jock-type Villagers like Hamlet, Kid Cat, or Rod. Instead of preparing homes for Villagers, players could redecorate their own home or reach a certain item count of a certain category on their Island to attract Villagers of a particular personality type. This would allow Villagers to still bring their own unique items and homes to the island or village. Additionally, Villagers shouldn’t leave the player’s space if the player decides to place items of a different theme. After all, players should get the chance to mingle with Villagers of all different personality types.
Though Villager hunting may remain an issue for Animal Crossing, Hello Kitty: Island Adventure proves that there is a way to curb the long-standing issue. Hopefully Animal Crossing will take notes on this approach as Nintendo preps for its next title.
- Released
- July 28, 2023
- ESRB
- E For Everyone
- Developer(s)
- Sunblink
- Publisher(s)
- Sunblink
- Engine
- Unity
WHERE TO PLAY
Embark on a cozy adventure with Hello Kitty and Friends and restore an abandoned island to its former glory. Can you solve the mystery hidden within?
OPEN WORLD ADVENTURE
Welcome to Big Adventures Park, where friendships are key and adventure is just around the corner! Join your supercute new friends in a gorgeous world teeming with adorable creatures, delicious food, and many mysteries to explore.
HELLO KITTY AND FRIENDS
Get to know supercute and friendly faces like Hello Kitty, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, and more by discovering their likes, questing alongside them, and eventually becoming best friends. Craft rare items, solve ancient puzzles, and decorate cabins to bring new visitors and create your ultimate island paradise.
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Hello Kitty
- PC Release Date
- January 30, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- August 5, 2025
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
- January 30, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Life Simulation
- Platform(s)
- iOS, Apple Arcade, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5
