Love Animal Crossing? Check out Campfire Cozy Friends

Campfire Cozy Friends has the same core gameplay loop as Animal Crossing: you arrive in Campfire Town and get the chance to design your dream home with the game’s “endless customization options,” allowing you to design the house to your liking with unique combinations for true expression of your creativity. You also get to meet the villagers and build heartwarming connections with them.

What makes Campfire Cozy Friends different is that it utilizes AI technology to allow players to chat with the villagers about… well, about anything! The game’s website says that you can “Chat about your day, gossip about other characters, learn about their life stories, or just do fun or relaxing activities together,” with the player not simply choosing dialog options but typing out their entire responses in chat.

Here are some of the furry friends that compose the colorful cast of characters that you can meet in the game:

• Fred – Dive into the Fish Shack with Fred Flyfish, the grizzled tiger and wildlife expert (his favorite fish is the catfish!) He’s always ready with a story of the seas, and can be quite the inspiration on rainy days.
• Mayor Thompson – The unscrupulous yet loveable bulldog who leads Camp Island with charm, political corruption, and his self-proclaimed ‘signature’ sense of humor.
• Steve – Visit Steve Cheffington’s hot dog truck and savor the culinary delights of this affable but clumsy lion. It’s a shame he can never seem to keep the engine running.
• Valentina – Valentina Falsetto traded a life of musical stardom and luxury for the serene shores of Camp Island, her motivations a mystery to all. Now she’s on a quest to find herself again.
• Angelina – Angelina is focused on the success of her business, and has little time for nonsense. This entrepreneurial fox has got quite a story to tell – and plenty of gossip to go along with it.
• Chapo – Embark on resourceful adventures with Chapo, the expert raccoon in all things mining and logging. Discover treasures hidden in the heart of the island.

Campfire Cozy Friends will become available on PC through Steam, Mac, iOS, and Android, but there is no release date yet. Access is on an invite-only basis, but players can now sign up to get early access and experience the game before it launches, and join the Discord Community to learn more about the game, connect with other players, and give feedback to the developers.

Multiplayer gameplay is also advertised for the full version of the game upon release.

Of course, there are going to be concerns about the game’s use of AI – whether it’s ethical or even safe to use especially for younger audiences – but it’s intriguing to see AI technology being used in a cozy, family-friendly game in this way. We’ll see how well the implementation will be eventually when the game comes out.