There’s actually a lot to the history of this game! Here’s some old pictures and elements of the game’s past to look at. These pictures are mostly all from 2010 to 2011, when the game was still in its development.

First, in this picture, you can see the old design of rocks and trees. The flowers also look different here than in the final version, and they’ll be changed one more time later on. This and the following images come from footage from 2010 (the final game was released in 2012).

Next is what looks like the default house for Filbert the Squirrel. Here, his shirt is his default shirt from Wild World and City Folk, but this was changed later on. His house also completely resembles his house from City Folk, but it was changed to have a space theme in the final New Leaf. It also looks like villagers were originally meant to have custom furniture (like the custom common chairs in the background), but in the final version, no villagers have custom items in their default homes.

Here, you can see an early look at what the houses were supposed to look like! They changed quite drastically and look a lot more plastic-like here.

Here’s an image of what the speech bubbles originally looked like. Just like with the flowers and trees, they were changed one more time before the final version. Rosie’s house also received an overhaul later on, as in the final version, it is nearly completely pink themed.

Here, you can get a look at what the public works projects looked like. It appears that they were all going to have patterns under them, just like at the train station and Re-Tail.

Here, you can see a glimpse of what the villager houses looked like! If you look closely, you’ll see that they completely resemble the houses from Wild World and City Folk, with the front door and a side area with a window.

Now we’re getting into the photos from 2011. Here, you can see what the redesigned trees and flowers look like. The trees were much larger and bushier here and the flowers look a bit more like their final form. However, neither of them are at their final form yet.

Here’s another image demonstrating what the flowers and trees looked like. It’s also important to note that by now, the patterns from under benches were removed.

Here, you can see what the redesigned villager houses look like. They now look closer to what the final ones look like, but in this version, villager houses had neat little walkways that are not present in the final game.

Here, you can see the redesigned text boxes that are still not like the final version. I personally prefer the ones from 2010. By looking at Bunnie’s dialog, it seems like little parties or meetups were planned, as in the final version, meetings of 3 villagers are completely random and not planned like Bunnie makes it appear in the image. Also, in the video this originates from Bunnie has the voice of a snooty villager, so it appears that she may have been planned to be one early on.

This image shows the original dock design with a bend that isn’t present in the final.

Here’s some images of comparison between Filbert’s house throughout various stages.

And here are images of Rosie and Bunnie’s beta vs. final houses.

Here’s a photo from the New Leaf website. This screenshot seems perfectly normal, but here, Zell (a smug villager) is seen welcoming the mayor into town on his first day. In the final version, smug villagers cannot be a part of the original 5 villagers in a town, meaning this scene is impossible in the final game. This suggests that either Zell was not going to be smug, or smug villagers were planned to be able to be an original villager in a town.

An interesting note to point out is that the screenshot from the thumbnail above is actually not present in the video at all…

Finally, let’s take a look at some concept art from the games. Here, you can see some of the early designs for some of the new villagers introduced in New Leaf.

Here, you can see some early versions of furniture.

This is a pretty big item: the concept map for a New Leaf town! There’s a LOT to see here.

First, you can see that the beach is very different. Rather than slopes, stairs lead down towards it. It also appears that you could originally have PWPs down on the beach, such as the campfire and wooden log shown here. There’s also a completely removed building and paved area down towards the end of the coast. I have absolutely no clue what this could’ve been. Maybe a hut for Kapp’n to wait in before setting sail?

You can also see that the sea is much more lively here. It looks like you were originally able to take your own boat and possibly explore a variety of islands. Tortimer’s Island looks extremely different and looks more like a fully fledged out plantation/resort with beach houses, similar to the beach in the GameCube game. You can also see a small hut on an island that might’ve been home to someone like Pascal!

Another thing I noticed is a small cliffside cave! This totally reminds me of the Animal Crossing movie.

Now, heading into the town itself, there’s a lot to speculate here. First, it looks like the train station was larger and more similar to the GameCube version. Next, you can see that the plaza is much larger with a house even on it! Perhaps this was where town hall originally was?

There’s also some strange house-like building in the top right with a sign outside of it. If I had to guess, I’d say this is Re-Tail, since it isn’t anywhere else in the image. A cabin-like building does make sense for a pair of alpacas after all, and the sign outside could be like the sign with premium items in the final game.

Another cool feature is the lake by the waterfall! It looks like there’s all sorts of lily pads and other decorations inside of it, making it appear extremely lively.

Finally, there’s a lot to see at Main Street, or “the mall”, as it was referred to in the beginning. There are significantly more buildings and I can’t even imagine what was planned for them. There was also a large fountain in the center, bringing back strong City Folk vibes. Finally, it looks like the Happy Home area was much smaller and more compact.

I hope you enjoyed looking back at all these elements of Animal Crossing New Leaf’s early stages! I’m totally fascinated by all of this and I hope you are too! If there’s anything you noticed or wanted to point out, let me know! Thanks for reading!