Animal Crossing Is So Great, You Should Play It!

In case you haven’t heard, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become an instant hit during the quarantine! A few months ago, I have already landed and taken up residence only my new island. Here's how the story begins.

When I start this, I got a basic dwelling and a loan from Tom Nook. So I have to earn currency (known as bells) to pay off my loan, which in turn upgrades my dwelling. Then I was given a new loan to work off until I got the biggest house in the village.

Whenever I logged into the game, there would always be something that I had to do. I always feel like I have to harvest all the fruit from my town's trees, and destroy all the weeds that have been collecting around the town. Animal Crossing makes you feel responsible in a good way without ever making the gameplay feel like a chore.

There’s a museum to fill with bugs, fossils, paintings, and more. You can collect shells, seashells to sell for a profit. You can spend time socializing and sending letters or gifts to residents and real-life friends.

What I found really addictive was decorating my house. There's a plethora of items you can use to make yours feel unique- almost unlimited customization. All you have to do is head into your home, and then press down on the d-pad to enter the decorative mode. While in this mode, you can use the left stick to select your furniture, then hold the A button and move the stick to move the furniture around.

Anyway, you may ask, why is Animal Crossing So Great? 

Animal Crossing is the most relaxing game I have ever played. You go to your town, something is always going on, you have goals to work towards, and your friends are excited to see you. The music and sound effects and the overall vibe of the game is cute, lighthearted, and wholesome. There are lots of calming, natural sounds, and you can spend a lot of time outside if you like. You can even water and arrange plants all day if that’s what you’re into. There’s a lot of collecting. And you build things up and have a say in what the town looks like on a large scale.

The characters in Animal Crossing all have distinct personalities, and there are little events and scenes throughout the game that make it feel like you are building relationships with them, and with your town. It’s not like the Sims where you have control over them though - they all have their own distinct lives and go on about their day when you’re not around.

There’s really nothing you have to stress about, either. It’s what I imagine life might be like if you didn’t have to worry about money or food or working(so feel free to buy ANIMAL CROSSING Bells at https://www.ssegold.com/animal-crossing-product if you want to), and just focused on the relationships and world around you. You choose what you do, you take breaks when you want, there’s no big bad to fight or world to save. In fact, there’s not much in the way of conflict at all. It’s not just a mindless distraction game like you might play on a phone - it’s a game that’s actively nice and welcoming to you as you play it and very supportive, so the feel and pull of it is different than other casual games I’ve played. The motivations in this game aren’t about fear, or anger, or competition. It’s really about creating an ideal environment and life for yourself and your townspeople. It’s really great at making you care, and also at making you feel a little cared for, to the extent a game can do that.

I like it when real life is a little too much, or I just want to give myself a break, sort of like a mental spa day.

You really should play it!