Nintendo’s Animal Crossing has charmed gamers since 2001, when the first installment was released. Created by Katsuya Eguchi (who also had a hand in such cute games as Yoshi’s Story), each game in the series lets the player create an avatar to represent themselves in a world filled with anthropomorphic, cute animals. Responsible for maintaining the town and keeping residents happy, the player must make friends with the various residents of the town, who are free to move in and out as they please. The attraction of the game comes from a collector mentality; the player can choose to work on a museum that collects the various fish, bugs, and fossils available throughout the game.
When I was in middle school, my sisters and I spent Saturdays in front of the television, gleefully eating sugary cereal and making detailed lists of tasks to complete in our village. We took town organization to a new level, constructing a carefully scaffolded plan to make our town the best it could be. Back then, our goal wasn’t to get the perfect town fruit, have the cutest town villagers, or collect all the furniture. We wanted to build a home and a town that we liked, regardless of how rare the components were.
As an adult, I’ve played other Animal Crossing games, but I’ve never recaptured that feeling I had when I was younger. I wanted to time travel (where you reset the system’s clock to trick the game into thinking it’s a different day), get the best furniture, collect all the things. I didn’t really care about the village itself, just the things I could put in it. And really, I didn’t have time to dedicate to playing a slow-paced slice of life game. I was working on a PhD.
A couple of weeks ago, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released for the Nintendo Switch. It arrived at an opportune time: the president had just declared a 15 day self isolation for the entire country in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. I’d already pre-ordered New Horizons, because I do love the franchise, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew I’d have a lot of time with the game, since all my teaching had gone online for the rest of the semester, but I didn’t know how much it would soothe me during what has turned out to be a time of high anxiety. I recognize the privilege in being able to say that—the privilege to have access to not only a Switch, but a new game for it, and time to play, as well as a job that can be done from home. That being said, I’m not alone in finding a peculiar comfort in Animal Crossing.
There are many great reviews out there of the game, but I’m not here to argue the merits of it as a game. Instead, I want to explain why it’s the perfect game for this quarantine season, and perhaps an especially perfect game for those who deal with anxiety.
1. It forces you to slow down and breathe.
Animal Crossing takes place in real time. If it’s 9 AM in the real world, it’s 9 AM in your town. If you’re playing by the rules set forth in the game, and not time traveling by resetting the clock on your Switch, sometimes you just have to wait on things. You’re building a shop that won’t be open until tomorrow? Well, you’ll just have to wait for tomorrow. The game forces you to wait for things and find inventive ways to pass the time in the meanwhile—or put the game down entirely to pursue something in the real world. By mandating a slow pace, the game forces players to stop and breathe for a moment. There’s no breakneck pace to keep up with—sometimes there’s not even anything you can do except wait! Of course, you can always fish, catch bugs, harvest materials, etc.. But you aren’t the master of time, just like in real life.
2. It lets you set goals and build towards them slowly, day by day.
When I’m feeling anxious or down, it helps me to have something to look forward to, even if it’s a small thing like getting coffee with a friend or going to see a movie. Unfortunately, all of the things that I’d usually look forward to are cancelled for the time being. That concert I got tickets for a few months ago (for Orville Peck, one of my favorite things of 2019)? Show postponed. Coffee or lunch out? Cancelled. Going grocery shopping? Nope, not unless you have a good reason to. My graduation (for my PhD, which I’ve been working on for seven years)? Nah, cancelled. Engagement activities like pictures and showers? Nope! In many ways, New Horizons has given me things to look forward to, as silly as that sounds. Most recently, I had to wait for K.K. Slider to come to my town to perform a concert for my citizens. I worked hard to get my island just right so he’d want to come visit, and I felt relief and happiness when I unlocked the special event. I didn’t rush it, I just worked towards it, and it gave me something fun to look forward to. We had our concert around 11AM, and he played a new song (the theme of the game) for all the town’s villagers. It was oddly touching to stand there with all my animal friends when my real life friends feel so far away.
3. It is filled with kind characters. And speaking of those animal friends, they’re so sweet and cute.
A lot of Animal Crossing’s appeal is its character design. Each animal has their own personality, with some obsessed with fitness (and muscles), some seeking fame as a popstar, and some creating adorable nicknames for you, their new favorite person. The animals are adorable, and they’re constantly trying to help me out by giving me DIY recipes, furniture, and clothes. They also interact with each other more than I remember from previous games. I walked into my town square to find two villagers having an impromptu concert, singing joyously to no one in particular. New Horizons makes the island world seem real, and it makes its animal inhabitants seem to have rich inner lives—even though I know it’s just code and presets.
4. There’s no pressure to complete things.
Though many people have griped about Tom Nook—the owner of, well, everything in Animal Crossing, I argue that he’s actually a very kind businessman that just wants good things for his home. As you move through different activities in the game, you’re offered to do things like expand your home or improve the infrastructure of the island—all for a small price from Tom Nook, who’s willing to front you the money. However, Nook never charges interest on these loans, no matter how extravagant they are, and he never forces the player to make any changes that require a loan (aside from your initial move-in fee). If you don’t want to complete your house upgrades, you don’t have to. Heck, if you don’t want to do things like build a museum, I guess you don’t have to! There’s no pressure from the game itself to move you forward in a preset narrative.
5. You can connect in new ways.
Like I mentioned earlier, we’re living in a weird time where most of us are separated from our friends and other loved ones. New Horizons has surprisingly added a new way to connect with friends by including a multiplayer feature where you can visit others’ islands and interact with them. I’ve heard of folks participating in rounds of musical chairs, stargazing, or just stopping by at a friend’s place to have a chat. The world has suddenly embraced technology as a means of staying in touch with loved ones, but a Zoom call or Google Hangout session doesn’t feel the same as actually getting to participate in an activity. New Horizons allows players to interact in a virtual world where you can not only talk, but go on a walk together. Not only see each other, but look up at the stars. That’s something I took advantage of before this period of isolation, and something that gaming has helped me remember and look forward to again.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on the Nintendo Switch. If you want to come to MY island, my friend code is SW-4618-0757-5586!
