Hokko Life announced, an Animal Crossing-a-like for PC

If your social media feeds have been anything like mine in the last month or so, there’s been two flavors of posts: People discussing COVID-19, and people posting about Animal Crossing. The latest release in the Animal Crossing series, and the first time it’s come out for Switch, has been a huge hit, and clearly lots of players are really into it. But could this type of game reach an audience on PC? Well, one developer has decided to find out.

Following in the footsteps of Temtem, the Pokémon-a-like for PC, we now see a new game that is heavily inspired by another popular Nintendo game.

Developed by Swedish team Wonderscope, and published by UK indie publisher Team 17, Hokko Life is a freshly announced game that is very clearly seeking to give players on PC an experience that replicates much of what is offered by Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch right now.

It’s a wholesome-looking game about everyday life in a sleepy village full of anthropomorphic animals. You can build a house, fill it with customized furniture and decorations, then show it off to your friendly neighbors. 

There are also gardening options, where you can plant crops, and watch them grow over time.

It’s also offering similar fashion options to Animal Crossing, where there’s a fairly powerful-looking custom clothes creator, letting you deck out your wardrobe with outfits that are personalized to your style.

Hokko Life doesn’t yet have a concrete release date, just scheduled for some time in 2020, where it will be releasing on Steam. Check out the Steam page to wishlist it, or for more details.

To me, this doesn’t quite look as polished as the Nintendo title this is clearly based on is, and little details like the animations and lighting can’t quite measure up to the charming and pristine look of Animal Crossing, but perhaps it will be able to offer some features that Nintendo can’t match. It would be nice to see more robust creation and crafting tools, and perhaps they’ll be able to shift the design to lean more heavily on regularly updated online elements.

Certainly, there’s demand for games like those Nintendo makes on PC, with titles like Temtem and Stawdew Valley doing huge numbers on Steam. Maybe Hokko Life will be the next title to find success by catering to that latent demand. If you can’t wait out, check out our guide for running Animal Crossing: New Horizons on PC via emulation.