Disney Dreamlight Valley could pull a mechanic from Animal Crossing, and it has a previously untouched movie that would provide a perfect justification. So far, Disney Dreamlight Valley is already essentially Disney's version of Nintendo's Animal Crossing series. Of course, it has the primary gimmick of featuring several of Disney's most famous characters, as well as a story revolving around the mystery of what happened to the valley. With a schedule of updates laid down, the game has seen new features as well as improvements to existing ones. A future update could add yet another new wrinkle to gameplay.
The core of Disney Dreamlight Valley's gameplay involves a lot of traits seen in the increasingly prominent farming simulation genre. As the player carves out a life for themselves in the valley, two of their main pastimes will be growing produce and befriending their neighbors. Disney Dreamlight Valley also has a couple of more distinctive activities, such as doing away with the vines that sprouted up from the corruption that overtook the valley. The player can also help piece together their neighbor's lost memories. That combined with said neighbors being famous Disney characters makes befriending them an interesting endeavor.
A Bug's Life in Disney Dreamlight Valley Could Give Bug-Catching a Disney-Flavored Twist
One aspect of Animal Crossing that has yet to become a feature in Disney Dreamlight Valley is bug catching. In the Animal Crossing games, players can catch any insect that they find as soon as they have obtained a bug net. The main goal for doing so is to fill out the game's bug collection, with the full list of bugs typically being quite large. In addition, the later games feature a bug-catching contest that the player can participate in, giving them another purpose. In general, Animal Crossing's bug catching is a system well-designed for patient players and completionists.
One film that has yet to add any characters to Disney Dreamlight Valley could bring bug catching to the game. A Bug's Life featured a cast made almost entirely of bugs, which is likely a major reason why none of them have showed up in Disney Dreamlight Valley yet. However, that also makes them perfect for the game's own version of a bug-catching mechanic. Between the ants, the circus bugs, and even the villainous grasshoppers, A Bug's Life has enough characters to form a decent collection, and Disney can capitalize on that to make them into an active part of the game.
Disney Dreamlight Valley could even use the cast of A Bug's Life to combine bug-catching with friendship mechanics in a future Disney Dreamlight Valley update. The characters from A Bug's Life had distinct personalities, from go-getter ant Flik to temperamental ladybug Francis. By finding and catching the bugs, that might grant the player a chance to speak with them, similar to the valley's other residents. Catching them could also potentially give the player a chance to keep them in a garden or terrarium. That way, they could find and keep track of the bugs that they collected while continuing to converse with them, effectively turning them into neighbors.
The cast of A Bug's Life could provide Disney Dreamlight Valley players with a whole new pastime to get involved in. More franchises can still enter Disney Dreamlight Valley, and pulling from one of Disney's lesser-known movies could be a pleasant surprise for longtime Disney fans. Bug catching is a fun activity in Animal Crossing, and Disney Dreamlight Valley has the perfect opportunity to introduce its own version of it with a Disney-influenced coat of paint. A Bug's Life may have the chance to make its entrance into Disney Dreamlight Valley in style with a new mechanic.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
