With COVID-19 keeping everyone trapped inside many people have sought for entertaining ways to fill their time. Animal Crossing: New Horizons released on March 20 and has been a timer-filler for many, making this self-quarantine more bearable. It took me a while to catch up on the trend since I’m not a big fan of video games. Still, I was finally persuaded to download Animal Crossing and let me tell you I absolutely love it. I find myself spending most of my quarantine days playing the game and losing track of time. For those who don’t have Animal Crossing, I’m here to explain the hype and let you in on what makes the game so addictive.
If you’re unfamiliar with animal crossing, it’s a game in which you develop your own desert island. You do this by collecting resources, catching animals, completing tasks and talking with villagers. You’ll start with just a tent. From there, it’s your job to build your house and complete a few tasks that will get the ball rolling on the construction of your town. The best part of Animal Crossing is that everything is completely customizable. This means that where you place your home, what it looks like, where you plant your trees and even who lives on your island is pretty much up to you.
At first, the game went a little slow. Some of the tasks that you’re asked to complete don’t have visible consequences until the very next day. This is because Animal Crossing is synchronized to the time that it is in real life. Not only does the game match up with your time, but it even asks for the location in which you live and matches the seasons to that location. With this real-life time being a feature of the game, I find that I’m less inclined to play when there is nothing to do in the game. There are moments when you just need to wait for something to happen. I suppose this is like a reality check for me since if it weren’t the case I’d probably never stop playing.
One of the perks of the game is that you can actually visit your friends’ islands and hang out with them there. This is probably the closest I’ll get to hang out with my friends in real life since I don’t know that this self-quarantine will be over anytime soon. Animal Crossing also has a super helpful feature where you can type and talk to the person that you’re visiting. When I visited a friend, she was able to show me around her island and even give me some items that I needed in order to get ahead in the game.
Personally, I really enjoy playing Animal Crossing. It’s simple and low stress, perfect for these trying times that we’re living in. I really don’t enjoy video games 99 percent of the time, but Animal Crossing is an exception. I recommend that you download it and hit me up when you do so I can visit your island.
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