Platform guide
All Animal Crossing 3DS games
Two Animal Crossing games came out for the Nintendo 3DS in Europe, and three boxes — because New Leaf was sold again in 2016 with its big update already on the cartridge. Every list you will find counts those three as three games. Here is what each box actually contains, what still works now the 3DS servers are closed, and the one thing to check before you buy a 3DS cartridge from anywhere.
The short answer
New Leaf (2013) → Happy Home Designer (2015) → New Leaf — Welcome amiibo (2016, the same game as New Leaf). Start with New Leaf, in whichever of its two boxes is cheaper — the update in the Welcome amiibo version is free and still installable on a plain cartridge. 3DS games are region-locked, so buy the European version for a European console.
Tested Animal Crossing 3DS games in stock
Opened, checked and started on a real 3DS before they are listed — European versions.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Personally tested · Good condition
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Personally tested · Good condition
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
Personally tested · Good condition
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Personally tested · Good condition
Every Animal Crossing 3DS box, in release order
| Title | Released (EU) | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| New Leaf | 14 June 2013 | Main series |
| Happy Home Designer | 2 October 2015 | Spin-off |
| New Leaf — Welcome amiibo | 25 November 2016 | Re-release of New Leaf |
Box by box — the buying notes
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2013)
The one almost everybody means. You arrive in town and are made mayor by mistake, which is the excuse for the public works that let you rebuild the place — bridges, benches, a lighthouse. It added more to the formula than any Animal Crossing before it — the mayor role, the island, the shopping street, a larger cast — and it is the last one Nintendo made for a handheld. Online town visits are gone since April 2024; everything else — the calendar, the museum, the shops, local play over StreetPass — runs exactly as it did.
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (2015)
Not a village sim: you work for Nook’s Homes and furnish houses for villagers who tell you what they want. No money to earn, no debt to Tom Nook, no weeds — which is either the appeal or the reason it disappointed you. It came with one amiibo card in the box and reads more of them through NFC, and it can unlock furniture in a New Leaf save through the Nookling kiosk. Buy it as a second Animal Crossing, never as your first.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf — Welcome amiibo (2016)
The same game as New Leaf with the 2016 update already on the cartridge: the campsite, the amiibo campers, Wisp, the new furniture, the shop upgrades. If you already own New Leaf you do not need this box — the update was free and can still be applied to an existing cartridge. It is worth paying more for only if you are buying your first copy anyway, or if you collect the boxes.
What the 2024 server shutdown did and did not take
Nintendo closed online play for the 3DS and Wii U on 8 April 2024. For New Leaf that means no more visiting a friend’s town over the internet and no more online Dream Suite. It is a real loss, and it is also the smaller half of the game.
What still runs: the whole village, the calendar and its seasons, every shop and upgrade, the museum, fossils, fish, bugs and art, the island tours, StreetPass, and local play between two consoles in the same room. A cartridge bought today plays the game the way most people played it — which is alone, in the evening, for a year.
Or buy one that has already been checked
A 3DS cartridge holds one save, and on an Animal Crossing game that save is somebody else’s town. Every copy we sell is opened, checked and started on a real 3DS before it is listed, so you know whether the town is still on it and whether the cartridge reads at all. We have been doing this since 2019, with 1400+ verified reviews at 5.0★, and we ship tracked to all 27 EU countries.
See every 3DS game we haveQuestions we get asked
How many Animal Crossing games are there on the Nintendo 3DS?
Two games in three boxes. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2013) and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (2015) are the two games; Animal Crossing: New Leaf — Welcome amiibo (2016) is New Leaf again with the free update pressed onto the cartridge. Lists that count three separate games are counting a re-release. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival is a Wii U game and New Horizons is a Switch game, so neither belongs on a 3DS list even though they came out in the same years.
What is the difference between New Leaf and New Leaf — Welcome amiibo?
Nothing you cannot get for free. The Welcome amiibo cartridge simply ships with the November 2016 update installed — campsite, amiibo campers, extra furniture, shop changes. A plain New Leaf cartridge can still receive that same update, so the only reasons to pay more for the Welcome amiibo box are that it saves you the download or that you want that specific box on the shelf.
Do Animal Crossing 3DS games still work now the servers are closed?
Yes, apart from online visits. Nintendo shut down online play for the 3DS and Wii U on 8 April 2024, which ended visiting other people’s towns over the internet and the online Dream Suite. Local play between two consoles in the same room still works, StreetPass still works, and the whole single-player game — the calendar, seasons, museum, shops, villagers — is untouched. Nothing about the cartridge expired.
Does Happy Home Designer need amiibo cards?
No, but they are what it is built around. The game came with one card in the box and plays fine without any others; scanning cards is how you summon specific villagers to design for. A New Nintendo 3DS or New 2DS XL reads the cards on the lower screen without anything extra. An original 3DS, 3DS XL or 2DS needs the separate NFC Reader/Writer accessory, which is easy to miss when you buy the game for an older console.
Are 3DS games region-locked?
Yes, and this is the one to watch. Unlike Game Boy, GBA and DS cartridges, a 3DS game only runs on a console from the same region — a European Animal Crossing will not start on an American or Japanese 3DS, and the other way round. Everything we sell is the European version, so it works on a European console; if you own an imported console, check the region before you buy anywhere.
Which Animal Crossing should I start with on 3DS?
New Leaf, in either box. It is the complete village game: mayor duties, the museum, the seasons, the shopping street and the island tours. Happy Home Designer is a good second purchase and a poor first one, because it removes the part most people came for. If you have a Switch as well, New Horizons is bigger — but it is not portable in the way a 3DS in a coat pocket is.
Do you ship Animal Crossing 3DS games across the EU?
Yes — tracked shipping from the Netherlands to all 27 EU countries, no customs charges inside the EU, and 30 days to return an order. Your country’s exact rate appears at checkout before you pay.
One console down: the one Animal Crossing DS game — or the whole series in order. Same cartridge slot, different franchise: all Pokémon 3DS games, all Mario 3DS games and all Professor Layton 3DS games.
Dutch reader? Nintendo 3DS-games — het hele aanbod in het Nederlands.