Looking For a Game Like 'Animal Crossing'? You Might Want to Try This 'Hello Kitty' Game

If you've ever played Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you've probably felt the AC magic. It's the kind of magic that comes from connecting to a world very different from our own, where neighbors get along, flowers picked up off the ground are the size of your head, and all it takes to turn your day around is a recipe you whip up in a matter of moments.

Enter: Hello Kitty Island Adventure. With some visual similarities to Animal Crossing, you may be wondering if Hello Kitty is like Animal Crossing.

The answer, of course, depends on who you ask. But here's our take on whether or not Hello Kitty Island Adventure is like Animal Crossing and its franchise games.

If you haven't picked up Hello Kitty Island Adventure, but you're a fan of the Animal Crossing series, you may be wondering if the two are alike, given their surface-level similarities.

And the answer is: yes and no.

They share similar fun themes, such as the animal-like neighbors and quests that involve caring for and improving your area. But HKIA focuses more on character development and quest-driven story, whereas AC focuses more on open-ended quests and adventures.

They do share some similarities; perhaps, most notably, the fact that they're both positive escapism-type games where you can immerse yourself in a world with few major problems, customize your adventure, and lose yourself in an idyllic world.

If you lived through 2020, it's almost impossible to forget how dark and hopeless the world felt at times. Most people were isolated from their loved ones, death tolls were rising everywhere, and there was a world of uncertainty and fear hovering over it all.

Enter: Animal Crossing.

The beloved franchise dropped Animal Crossing: New Horizons on March 20, 2020, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Kids and adults alike were desperate for social interaction and an escape from the darkness in the world, and Animal Crossing's friendly animals and benign quests seemed like the perfect remedy.

It's no secret that 2025 has been similarly dark in many ways. Although we aren't in lockdown anymore, unaffordability and cascading crises have led people to a similar feeling of hopelessness and worry about what tomorrow might bring.

Enter: Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Although it was released in 2023, it's seen an uptick at the end of 2025 as people cling to the positive.

Could it possibly do for 2026 what Animal Crossing did for 2020?

Regardless of the similarities or differences between the games, there's a good possibility that Hello Kitty Island Adventure's resurgence could replicate the resurgence of hope that Animal Crossing once provided.

All it takes is a willingness to embrace whimsy and a desire to take a brief break from the world's seriousness.

Given what most people are craving these days, we'll call that "check" and "check."