A wise man once said that 'When you're hot, you're hot!' - and while he may have been talking about beating us at Pokemon Puzzle League with his fire type Pokemon, they're words we've lived by ever since.
Nintendo's seminal match three Tetris-type puzzle game, Puzzle League, has certainly seen a few games in it's lifetime, but the themed versions still reign supreme. And now, pretty much out of nowhere, comes an Animal Crossing take on Puzzle League, in the form of a mini-game hidden in the latest Animal Crossing: New Leaf update. Here's how to get your paws on it!
Ah, good old Hell - it's been a while...
Getting the update
First you need to update your copy of the game - simply launch Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but instead of loading your game and heading straight into your town, scroll down to 'Update Data' on the main menu instead.
Clicking on this will give you a bit of a preamble before asking "Would you like to download the update data?" - pick "Yes" and the download will start automatically, providing you are connected to the internet. Don't worry if it seems to be taking a while to download, as this is a big update!
Once updated, your title screen should have changed to say 'Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo'. Loading your town will start a short cutscene where you bump in to everyone's favourite mayoral assistant, Isabelle, who explains that your town has undergone a few big changes since you last stopped by - most notably, a new campsite, where you can buy exclusive not-found-in-other-stores items with a brand new currency, MEOW Coupons. MEOW Coupons, or Mutual Exchange Of Wealth Coupons, can be earned by completing the new 'town initiative' missions, small quests that change every day and ask you to do everyday things like donating fossils to the museum, catching certain insects or planting some cherry trees.
Getting Animal Crossing Puzzle League
But arguably the biggest deal in the new Welcome Amiibo update is the new mini-games it adds - the aforementioned Puzzle League, and an escape room style game, Desert Island Escape.
In order to access the mini-games, you'll need to get your hands on the relevant Nintendo-themed furniture items first - a New Nintendo 3DS or New Nintendo 3DS XL for Puzzle League, and a Wii U for Desert Island Escape.
Unfortunately, the only way to get said items is by lucking out in the Nooks' daily Fortune Cookies. To get one, you'll need to head up to Nook's shop, found by going up the path at the top of your town, and ambush whichever Nook's on duty. A single fortune cookie will set you back 2 Play Coins each time - so if you don't have enough, just close your console up, and gently shake it for a bit.
Dragging the Fortune Cookies in your inventory over the picture of your character in the centre will prompt them to gobble them up, revealing the fortune inside - and trading in said fortune slips with whichever Nook Jr is on duty that day will net you a variety of Nintendo-themed items. Fortune #57 will net you a New Nintendo 3DS as a prize - although sadly, we haven't managed to get either of the others at the time of writing. Once you've procured a console, the next step is to place it in your humble abode, whereupon interacting with it will start up the relevant game!
We're not sure trying to hide our terrible bed hair under a pirate hat really worked...
As you can probably guess from the title of the update, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is also getting a variety of amiibo-related functionality. By scanning in these Nintendo character figures, you'll be able to unlock all kinds of fun things - familiar faces from other franchises, such as Link from The Legend of Zelda or the Splatoon amiibos, will see those characters turn up in your town, via the new Campground. For Animal Crossing characters, whether it's a figure of K.K. Slider or a collectible card of Bunnie, scanning them into your game will let you snap some AR photos with the character in question, bringing them into the real world.
Bringing all kinds of funky new features and mini-games to Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Nintendo hopes to breathe new life into the three year old title, as well as reward those fans who've stuck with the series throughout. So why not join us in booting up your old, forgotten towns - don't worry, Isabelle got Leif in to do the weeding in preparation - and give Animal Crossing another go! And if you're really looking for some more Animal Crossing fun, why not head back to our old diary, of our time in hell...
