Why you shouldn't worry about micro-transactions in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Nintendo's latest mobile game set to arrive at the end of this month, was announced in a Nintendo Direct a few weeks ago, and it has folks quite excited. It's a complete Animal Crossing game that you'll be able to play on your iPhone or Android.

The game's free-to-play system did draw some attention when it was first revealed, but we're here to tell you that there isn't much to worry about, especially after having played a good bit of the game in soft launch. Here's why.

It doesn't exploit its players

There are many items that you can buy with bells, the standard in-game currency. Items that can only be bought with Leaf Tickets are usually cosmetic items that don't impact your ability to play the game, something that a lot of free-to-play games are accused of doing. Most of the time you'll only need Leaf Tickets if you want to speed up the timers, which leads us to our next point.

Animal Crossing has always been meant to be played in short bursts

Animal Crossing has always taken place in real-time, meaning you'll have to wait real-life days for fruit to grow, for new friends to move in, and for your house renovations to complete. It's really a game to be played for just 30 minutes to an hour daily. You pop in to catch some fish, collect some bugs, and catch up with your friends. The free-to-play model fits perfectly here, because after you finish your daily routine, you can sit back and wait for your timers to tick down without feeling like you're being ripped off or blocked from accessing parts of the game. Waiting is the way of things in Animal Crossing.

Are you planning on jumping into Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp when it launches later this month? Let us know in the comments.