Animal Crossing: City Folk's gameplay is built upon the gameplay of previous Animal Crossing games. The Wii Remote pointer and motion controls (including the Nunchuk) can be used for handling tools, such as axes, watering cans, slingshots, fishing rods, shovels, and bug-catching nets.[4] Players live in individual houses spread apart from each other, unlike Animal Crossing, in which all four houses are located in a central plaza. Each town begins with six animal residents, and can grow to a maximum of ten. The resident limit is 15 for the first game and 8 for Wild World. In previous iterations of Animal Crossing, custom clothing involves a single image that is repeated on the front, back and sleeves; in City Folk, the player can make separate images for each, which is called a "Pro" design.
The player will be able to celebrate as time progresses through several real-world holidays, such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, Easter, Father's Day, Mother's Day, and Halloween, although they are named differently in the game itself.[5] Holiday-associated characters from previous games return, as well as new additions such as Zipper T. the Easter Bunny, Pavé (a peacock who celebrates "Festivale"), and Nat (a chameleon who hosts the "Bug-off", a bug catching contest).
Players use a currency known as "bells" in the game. They can get bells by selling items to Nook, the local store owner, such as fish, bugs, fruit, or almost anything they have. Players can save their bells in their own account at the Bank of Nintendo. They may deposit or withdraw bells at the cash machine located at the town hall.
Players have their own house in the game, which is provided by Tom Nook. Nook allows them to pay off their house over time, instead of all at once. They can go to the ABD machine to pay off some of this debt whenever they have the money. Once a player pays off a certain amount, their house is upgraded, adding a new story or making the first level of the house bigger. Players may decorate this house anyway they please. The HRA (Happy Room Academy) in the city rates their room, and will pick a room to put on display. Players buy furniture at Tom Nook's, Redd's in the city, or from other animals in their town. Players can use feng shui to earn more HRA points and get luckier in their daily doings, such as catching rare fish or bugs more often.
Players and animals alike can participate in hobbies. These include fishing, bug-catching, fossil finding, and gardening. There is a wide variety of bugs and fish that can be caught, which can be sold or donated to the museum. There is also a large selection of trees and flowers to plant. There are many fossils to be found buried across the village. The player can participate in occasional Bug-Offs or Fishing Tourneys.
The city is a new area added to the game. The player can go there by taking a bus from town, driven by Kapp'n, and once at the city, players can buy clothes, get their hair done, go to a theatre, bid on furniture, and much more. Special characters often appear in the city; these characters include Phineas (who hands out prizes) and Kicks (who polishes shoes). WIth the Wii Speak