Animal Crossing is played in real time and thus you could theoretically play the game until the year 2032. Players can spend those 30 years in whatever fashion they choose to, for instance by working in the garden, going fishing, collecting fine art, or playing tricks on their neighbors, with whom they live together in a virtual village. Depending on the players' actions, his or her fellow residents will respond and, in the worst case, may even move away.

One of Animal Crossing ’s extra feature is that after saving your personal village on a memory card, you may visit your friend and his or her village. Animal Crossing also supports the connectivity feature between GC and GameBoy Advance, and in linking the game to a GBA, you can visit a special island, meet a new companion, and download a classic NES game.

Continuing the peripheral additions, by attaching Nintendo's e-Reader accessory into the GBA's game slot, players can also receive a special letter from their virtual friends and collect classic NES games. The e-Reader, which is available at a retail price of $39.95 USD, requires special Animal Crossing e-cards to work. Those e-cards will be available on October 28th, carrying a price tag of $3.29 USD each.