Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a social simulation game. The player takes on the role as the new mayor in a small village populated by animals. Gameplay consists of improving the village with new buildings and decorations, collecting furniture and items for one's house, and donating fossils, fish, insects and art to the local museum.

Several features in the game make their series debut here, while others have been brought back from older Animal Crossing games after having not been seen in the DS or Wii entries. These include public works projects, which allow new landmarks and buildings to be added to the town, as well as altering the appearance of certain major buildings; the Dream Suite, which allows players to visit other towns in a single-player session; a tropical island that hosts minigames and multiplayer interactions; Re-Tail, a store that acts as a flea market and allows the player to customize certain furniture items with alternate color schemes or patterns; and QR code sharing for player-made clothing and patterns.

A free update, titled Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo, was released in late 2016. This patch added amiibo functionality, including 64 villagers only available through the use of a corresponding card or figure. 50 of these are villagers who had previously only appeared in the GameCube and/or Nintendo 64 installments of the series; the other 14 are tie-in villagers that represent characters from The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, Monster Hunter, and Hello Kitty. Other features include new items and currency, an RV campground near the outskirts of town, minigames and features from Animal Crossing spin-off titles, and several miscellaneous features intended for the player's convenience.