Sometimes it’s the little things that can keep us going. Lately, for me, that’s been the promise of playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a video game that will be releasing for Nintendo Switch on March 20th next year.
If you don’t know what Animal Crossing is, the basic premise is this: you’re a human who moves to a town in the middle of the forest (fun fact: the game’s Japanese name is Dobutsu no Mori, or “Animal Forest”) populated entirely by cute anthropomorphic animals whom you can befriend. I swear it’s not as creepy as it sounds. The game runs on the same clock that we do— so if it’s 12:00 P.M. on Christmas Day in real life, it’s the same in-game. Besides befriending your neighbors, you can also do things like decorate your house, catch bugs and fish, plant flowers around town, and other such life-simulation game activities. The series exploded in popularity for its unique, quirky charm and relaxing gameplay.
Psst— if any of this sounds appealing to you, you can get a little taste of Animal Crossing by downloading Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, which is a free-to-play mobile game!
The fact that I’ll have this game in my hands in just a few months is for sure near the top of my “reasons to live” list. I know I probably sound like a big nerd or something, but hear me out. Animal Crossing means so much to me. I’ve played all four Animal Crossing games that have been released in the series’ 18-year history— that’s the only video game franchise that I can say that about! As of November 8 this year, it’s been nine years since the last game, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, was released. Yikes, that makes me feel old. Anyways, I and many other Animal Crossing fans are very much excited for New Horizons after the series’ nine-year hibernation.
One little snag is that March 20th is like, a month before finals. The game will definitely not be good for my productivity, so I’m going to do my best to wait until the first day of summer break to pick it up. Emphasis on “do my best.”