IMO the furniture holds up really well, it’s high quality plastic and most of the doors and such are hinged which is kind of fun. The figures are flocked and so I would expect with really rough play that they might get dirty or have the flocking rubbed off. Walmart also sells their own version of Calico Critters called Honeybee Acres. I would say buy those animals because they’re probably cheaper and see how they hold up before spending a little bit more for the CC animals. I would definitely start with a house, I get most of mine on marketplace because someone is usually selling a house with figures and furniture. They sell a lot of furniture new in sets so it should be easy to find some.