Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing's concept sounds dreadful, but--like so many Nintendo creations--once you actually sit down and play the thing, it unfolds as a charming, funny and incredibly entertaining experience.

With the Wii incarnation marking the franchise's third release in several years, Animal Crossing is a non-game in which you move to a small village and...well...collect seashells and pick fruit. You also spread rumors, start trends, save the local museum, get annoyed with your neighbors, and hit rocks with a shovel in hopes that money might fly out. Thanks to sharp style and gobs of good, weird humor, this is all a hundred times more fun than it sounds.

Imagine a cross between the TV classic The Prisoner and Richard Scary's Busy Town. You begin life in your one-of-a-kind randomly-generated village by working to pay off your mortgage to the notorious Mr. Tom Nook. He's a human-sized raccoon. The mayor's a tortoise, dogs are cops, an owl runs the museum, a huge mustachioed pigeon tends bar at the coffee house, and your random assortment of ever-changing neighbors run the gamut from horses to mice and kabuki-faced cats. Each and every one of these villagers has a distinct personality, and that's where the charm of Animal Crossing shines. This was the original "game that plays even when you're not there." Using the system's internal clock as a reference, the game changes and updates what's happening in the village each time you boot up, creating an effective illusion that life in the place continues in your absence. Stay away too long and you might return to find your house infested with cockroaches, which you'll have to stamp out. Neighbors come and go (you can influence this). Special events happen weekly, monthly and annually. A fan favorite takes place every Saturday night at Brewster's coffee bar: The whimsical and incredibly cool folk singing dog, K.K. Rider, performs a song of your choosing, after which you can take home a recording to listen to on a virtual tape player.

The game has minor goals--Earn money, upgrade your house, improve the village, collect stuff, catch rare fish, donate fossils to the museum--but Animal Crossing is best enjoyed for what it is: A relaxing, surreal, good-humored trip to a fantasy vacation spot, meant to be enjoyed in short bursts. It won't change anyone's life or challenge anyone's reflexes...but it certainly makes people smile.