Amber Isle is an Animal Crossing-Inspired Indie Game

Inspired by Nintendo's 2020 hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons, an indie social sim titled Amber Isle is currently in development.

In Ambertail Games' debut game, players will assume the role of a human in a prehistoric society, and will run a crafting business on a peaceful island. The characters are all stylized after different dinosaur species, which the developers comment aren't use often enough in mainstream media, comparing them to the many species of Pokemon. Amber Isle is also inspired by the shop management game Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale, Ambertail said.

Not only does the gameplay look to be inspired by Animal Crossing's social simulation, but the dialogue also looks to mimic its vibe as well. In Ambertail Games' peek at Amber Isle, villagers, known as "Paleofolk," emulate the same kind, positive behavior that villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are known for.

However, something the developers at Ambertail hope to improve uupon is the redundancy in conversations with Animal Crossing villagers. In Amber Isle, the Paleofolk will each have their own personalities, hobbies, and occupations that they'll talk about throughout the day as players befriend them. For example, one character currently dubbed Maple Purple is shown asking the player if they're also interested in romance novels.

In another peek at Amber Isle, the developer shows how managing the player's shop will work. Players will be able to choose what items go on sale and appear on the counters, as well as what the asking prices for each item are.

2020 was quite the year for better or worse, but the gaming industry was able to rise to new heights, as many companies experienced record sales. Many big name titles were released last year, but there were just as many amazing indie games in 2020 that kept gamers happy. Over the years, many indie games have become superstar hits among gamers, like Minecraft, Undertale, or Cuphead. Games like these often provide players with a unique experience that they haven't been getting in more mainstream titles, which helps boost these games' popularity.

Plus, several of these games that independent developers are creating have been able to garner incredible recognition in the industry. Hades, which many gamers might consider the best indie game of 2020, was nominated for several different awards with different organizations. The title even won Game of the Year at The Gayming Awards and The New York Game Awards. Indie games have long been developed by studios on their own, but as the gaming industry grows, many indie developers have been able to partner with game publishers to help games reach brand new audiences. It may end up being indie games that help push gamers through 2021.

Gamers have become very familiar with hearing about delays over the last year or so. Delays might be nothing new, but it seems that a majority a game studios have been affected in some way due to the COVID-19 pandemic that expanded in 2020. As the days go by, more and more games that were originally supposed to come out this year look to be pushed back. While Nintendo fans will get news for the Breath of the Wild sequel later this year, there is a very real possibility that the game will not come out until 2022.