Like the other "Animal Crossing" games, in "Animal Crossing: New Leaf", the player lives in a village where everyone is an animal. The player can interact with villagers by talking with them. Instead of a house, the player starts the game living in a tent. As the game goes on, the player will be able to change and add new things to it. The player is also able to swim in the ocean that surrounds the village. Also new to this game is that you can become mayor of your town. Becoming mayor allows you to change your town more than in past games. You can do things such as set ordinances or start the building of public work projects as mayor.