There’s no denying it: Animal Crossing is a titan of gaming. With the monumental success of New Horizons—which has sold a staggering 45 million copies and served as a digital sanctuary during the pandemic—the franchise has cemented itself as a Nintendo cornerstone.

But this cozy life sim almost arrived on western shores with a completely different identity. In a fascinating recent interview with Time Extension, former Nintendo localization manager Leslie Swan pulled back the curtain on the immense challenge of translating Dōbutsu no Mori (“Animal Forest”) for a global audience.

The process was a marathon, taking between six months to a full year. And one of the biggest hurdles? What to even call the thing.

Imagine an alternate universe where you’re tending your orchard and chatting with villagers not in “Animal Crossing,” but in… Animal Acres. That’s right, this charming nod to the game’s grid-like town layout was a top contender. Thankfully, Nintendo opted for the now-iconic name we all know and love.

The project was so uniquely Japanese that it even drew a laugh from the legendary Satoru Iwata himself. Swan recalls being in a meeting where she mentioned the task ahead:

“I just said, ‘Well, Mr. Tezuka is asking us to work on Animal Forest’ and he just burst out in laughter. He just laughed and said: ‘I don’t know how you’re going to do this.’”

Game producer Takashi Tezuka had already warned the team they were in for a wild ride. This wasn’t a simple translation job. It was a full-scale cultural overhaul: renaming characters, inventing new catchphrases, and adapting deeply Japanese concepts for a brand-new audience.

It’s a fun reminder that one of gaming’s most universal comfort foods was once a hyper-localized dish that many thought wouldn’t travel well. Thank goodness they figured it out.

For more incredible insights and stories from the localization front lines, be sure to check out the full interview over at Time Extension.