It's fairly safe to say that we were all pretty depressed at the start of 2020, what with all the *gestures at everything*, and in March, I was in the same boat. I had just come back from a trip to Boston for PAX, a gaming expo, and the whole COVID thing started happening for real about halfway through the week-long convention. It was weird - everyone suddenly started replacing handshakes with elbow bumps, as if that would stop the spread of a highly contagious disease in a convention centre filled with thousands of people.
Luckily, there was Animal Crossing: New Horizons waiting for me back at home. I spent roughly 300 hours on New Leaf, so with my 14 million Bells in the bank and my fully upgraded home, I was ready to beat Animal Crossing all over again.
When it came out, I had a five-hour headstart over all my friends, because my account was based in the UK and I was living in Montreal, Canada - a five-hour time difference from London. I used those five hours to blast through the intro and start unlocking friendships, fishing, and FUN. It was glorious: a light of happiness at the end of the coronavirus tunnel.
Only, it wasn't the end of the tunnel, was it? It wasn't even really the start. Remember when people tweeted things like "Day 6 of lockdown!" as if we'd still be counting? Yeah, I stopped counting when I stopped caring about wearing trousers.
I'm an extrovert, you see. I thrive on company, and being way too full of energy at parties and gatherings. Now we can't have parties and gatherings, so I'm left without anyone to bother. Animal Crossing was a godsend - suddenly, I was connecting with people I hadn't talked to in years, visiting the islands of people on Twitter that I'd always wanted to be friends with. I was having these huge parties on my island, which is named "egg" (in lowercase and everything), where everyone would congratulate me on my excellent island, and I would show off my cute house, beaming with pride (and, yes, ok, a little bit of smugness).
But, eventually, the shine wore off. Somewhere in mid-summer, the reality of the whole thing started really setting in. I was in a long distance relationship, and although I forced him to buy New Horizons, too, it wasn't the same. I was living in Canada, thousands of miles and a whole dang ocean away from my family and some of my closest friends. Animal Crossing was like putting a tiny Thomas the Tank Engine plaster on a missing leg.
I stopped playing Animal Crossing around June, when I was probably at my saddest point. I went from playing for hours every single night to not even touching the Switch. Isabelle's sunny face no longer lit up my evenings; Blathers' Museum gathered dust; and the updates that came after that - diving, Turkey Day, everything winter-themed - went entirely unacknowledged. I'd see people tweeting about Snowboy and there would be naught but a hollow ring in the place where my heart used to be.
Yeah, yeah, I'm being dramatic. But the reality is this: it's hard to find joy in a joyful thing when you've squeezed it all out, and there's nothing left. Animal Crossing cannot be used as a flotation device when you're drowning in the ocean.
For the past few months, I've been better - but I still haven't gone back to Animal Crossing. Just as a song can remind you of a breakup, I'm afraid that walking around my island will bring back memories of a worse time. Maybe it'll be talking to a character with a catchphrase that I found funny at the time; maybe it'll be in the gigantic pile of turnips that are no doubt rotting in my makeshift backyard. Perhaps it'll be the reminder that I sometimes used redecorating my island and home as a way to stifle the rising panic and worry in me. Maybe it'll be the villagers chastising me for my 8-month absence. The thought makes me feel a little bad. What will Sherb do without my daily gifts?! He'll be so sad!
I'm a little afraid that I've been left behind, that my totally embarrassing lack of pine cones and snowflakes will mark me as an Animal Crossing noob after I worked so hard to make my island beautiful. I don't know how to dive! I haven't been buying Redd's paintings! I've missed all the Autumn stuff!
I know that a lot of people have probably already come to the conclusion that Animal Crossing doesn't have to be a catch-em-all, collectathon, leaderboard-topping kind of game. It certainly has the structure to be that, if you want it to, but if that's causing you undue stress, then maybe it's time to take a step back and remember why you loved this game in the first place, right? It's hard to remind yourself that not everything needs to be a competition to prove how worthy you are. It certainly feels that way, yes, especially when our only human contact is social media, the place where everyone is constantly trying to make their lives seem perfect.
https://twitter.com/TortilluhACNH/status/1346935600591507458
But I want to go back to egg. I want to hang out with Sherb again. I want to learn to dive, to make a wonky Snowboy, to make slow progress on my house - so this time, I'm going to do it for me, and me alone. No screenshots on social media. I'm not even going to try to impress the Happy Home Academy. My return will be quiet, and totally mine.
Well, apart from this article, I guess. But you know what I mean.
Comments 49
I have the same feeling, haven't played since July even though I love the game.
You could always trade with others if there are items u missed that you really want.
@Clamango the thought of having to talk to people is scary!! Lockdown made me into a total coward, apparently
I find that I play this game in rapid bursts when I have a new goal, such as build a mini city-scape for my kaiju statue, or a zen garden for a back yard, or completely redesigning a bedroom to serve a different purpose. Outside of that I largely ignore the title then revisit to some new faces that apparently moved in weeks ago.
I love the game, but the combination of apathy, depression and COVID related misery have also stopped me from being a daily visitor. I missed Halloween, Bonfire night, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years on there too.
Point is; you're not alone, Kate. One day at a time x
I've really started enjoying Animal Crossing again since the current UK lockdown... actually loving it as much as I did in the Spring and Summer! It really is the perfect game. I dunno, going on it provides such a nice sense of familiarity and order in a time when every day feels unpredictable and the routine of going to work is missing (I'm working from home) I can see why the series has been linked to good mental health.
Probably when I return to work and leave house arrest I'll lose interest in it again.
@AhabSpampurse thank you! <3
@Broosh same here. I just picked up Paper Mario (it was on sale so heck why not) and I haven't been on Animal Crossing in a week now. It feels weird, but it's ultimately been nice not having to stress out about fossils or snowboys, etc.
(Boy that sounds ironic doesn't it, stressing out about a 'stress free game')
@auck I also abandoned Paper Mario! I've just been mainlining Hades for weeks 😬
I’ve loved Animal Crossing for over a decade but haven’t played New Horizons in months. It just doesn’t give me the same joy as it once did. I play Pocket Camp more and I just find that it fits better in my lifestyle, playing short bursts through the day.
I've generally stayed away from Animal Crossing games because I know how they would resonate with my OCD tendencies, mixed with my addictive personality traits, and a pinch of 'completionist gamer' thrown in. I feel it's better to not go down that path, similarly to how I avoided World of Warcraft in its prime, because I would have absolutely been the type of person playing non-stop every night till 5am.
But I really feel like I missed out on a giant communal moment last year. Just about all my Switch owning friends got the game, and then my non-gaming friends even bought a Switch to play it. I've been having a rough time with the isolation like 95% of everyone else, and I kinda feel like this would have helped me socialize a little in those regards.
Its fine, though. I've still got about 200 Korok seeds to keep busy with.
@TommiKinder Pocket Camp has SO MANY VERY CUTE ITEMS. It honestly makes New Horizons look a bit pants, sometimes. Also, you can get in baths and stuff! I want to take a bath!!!
What a lovely and well written acticle. Thanks for sharing - I do worry about the mental health aftermath of this lockdown. I've a 5yr old son who started reception in September and his starting to think being at home is his life now (which he likes) and he doesn't want to go back to school.
People need to be looked after atm and sadly (in the UK) we've a government that constantly fails to properly fund mental heath services. I've just popped back to my island (1st time since June) and my place is infested with cockroaches....
@Desrever I'm with you there. My completionist, hyper-focused state of being doesn't jive well with these sorts of games. I tend to avoid MMOs for the same reason!
@JuanBlanco to be fair, I don't want to go back to school either!
@KateGray YES! The way the animals interact with the items is so amazing too, I wish they did that more in New Horizons. The monthly events are so much better too and the latest update was fantastic, now we can decorate the entire campsite area, I love it!
@TommiKinder Maybe I should start playing Pocket Camp...? Then again, I'd probably just abandon that too!
Its always interesting to hear other player's experiences wildly different from mine. But I guess that's just gaming in general.
I'm going on almost 700 hours now (I out in over 1000 for New Leaf in its 7-year span) and I am still, for the most part, enjoying the game. The updates and events have been welcomed. I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't say I have had my moments of boredom or feeling like I'm going in circles. Mostly due to stretches where I get nothing in the way of new items or DIYs without trading for them. I'm talking stretches when I literally get the same DIYs 3 or four days in a row. It can be annoying and makes you feel like you're wasting your time.
I also have those moments where I absolutely have no idea or inspiration on how to decorate or improve upon my house or area. But I've found, in the opposite of the experience for some, social media being the biggest help. I'll be combing through Reddit or Pinterest and stumble upon ideas on what to do with a specific section of my island or what that finishing touch I've been looking for my kitchen or living room. It's that social aspect of the game that, for me, has kept it interesting and fresh in some ways
I curated a small pseudo Japanese style shrine to my dead ex next to my front door in the game as a place to light the little digital incense and reflect. I'd leave a fresh fruit or a candy. Made a little pixel portrait. I played a bit nearly every day and it never bothered me, it always made me feel at ease about things. Until New Year's day. Now I haven't touched it since. I'm terrified to see that little altar. It feels like a Junji Ito short story kind of dread suddenly to even open the game at all.
Great article and writing. A co-worker bought the game and doesn't really get it. Whereas at least you played and enjoyed for a while. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.
This game still has me by the b*llocks and is refusing to let go. I log in everyday to get my Daily Nook Miles from Residential Services, I pick Pumpkins every 2 days to sell, I try and build the perfect Snowman, I dig up Fossils to sell as I have completed that part of Blathers’ Museum, I play the Events & I have completed all debts to Tom Nook including the 500,000 Bells for Expanded Storage, yet I still find something to do.
I can sit there for an hour just running around on my Island, digging, shaking, selling & swimming and feel afterwards like I’ve done nothing of value, but it’s addictive. It’s charming.
I’m really excited for the Super Mario Furniture & Items etc soon too.
"I know that a lot of people have probably already come to the conclusion that Animal Crossing doesn't have to be a catch-em-all, collectathon, leaderboard-topping kind of game. It certainly has the structure to be that, if you want it to, but if that's causing you undue stress, then maybe it's time to take a step back and remember why you loved this game in the first place, right?"
That's kind of my problem; I didn't really enjoy the game outside the collectables, and once I missed one, there went my motivation. I have not been on since June. All I ended up doing was playing the stalk market and that got boring fast.
I hope you enjoy your return to your island. Hopefully the villages don't scold you too harshly.
Interesting read. As someone who plays Animal Crossing by himself in a vacuum, I didn't think that people used the game to chat during lockdown.
But now that explains why it's so popular, I thought everyone just liked virtual fishing.
I agree with earlier comments when it comes to comparing the furniture in New Horizons to Pocket Camp. Perhaps that's another reason the game feels stagnant with Nooklings just rotating stock is that at least Pocket Camp has so much more furniture with so much more interactability for the villagers. And this from furniture you still have to craft (also, adjust the drop rate for unobtained recipes, dangit! I don't want to be forced to take a fifth golden toilet recipe!)
Also I want my Red Riding Hood wolf plushies in New Horizons. That alone would make me soooo happy
That’s great, have fun! I have been playing consistently all along (this is my first A.C. game too!).
Here ‘s my DA DA-1087-3451-1770
Please post yours too. I’d love to see it
I relate to this so much. I burned out somewhere around the diving and fireworks. Only really cutting it back on to collect the seasonal and Holiday DIY. Sometimes this endeavor would take a bit of time. I don't usually get to play with people or find people to play with. I'm more of the introvert. Winter has felt a little different for me though. Maybe it's the Snow really changing the scenery, but my decorations really stand out in the snow ❤️❄️
That's a great article !
But I think quite the opposite. While the game was released during tiring and trying times, it has always been a source of relief since. It doesn't remind me of the situation. Even though the 5 am music still triggers memories of anxiety-driven early wakings, and the subsequent let's-do-something-soothing-to-go-back-to-sleep shenanigans, its calming power still overtakes any bad memories.
Or maybe I'm just saying this because we're still in the middle of the pandemic and my feelings will change when we get back to a more 'normal' way of life.
Ah you have missed so much. My island is nearly complete and the only things I missed were the fishing tournaments. Hope you beat your depression soon. Keep ya spirits up.
@Mewmi That is really deep and encouraging to hear, thank you for posting that. Games can be a certain therapy for me in difficult times. I hope that your time in the game was helpful, and as you move on your skies become brighter.
@TheLightSpirit I am sorry that you have been suffering and this past year has been very difficult. It is brave of you to post your truth on a chat board, and I commend you.
I hope the new year brings you a bright light, which will accompany your courage. Take care, friend!
Played 300 hours of new leaf but don't know how to dive? 🤔
This isn't judging you or anyone else who got the game for the lockdown, but it really does show the difference between people who were into AC as a life sim before and people who weren't in how they approach "boredom" phases.
If this is your first AC game, I can tell you I was super active during New Leaf times and this competitive mindset didn't really exist back then. And there's definitely still a huge community that doesn't focus on this.
Trying to get out of the "prettiest island competition" and "lockdown savior" modes is important. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun, not save the world.
So, as you said, Animal Crossing cannot be used as a flotation device when you're drowning in the ocean, but it can (literally) be that little island that lets you take a break from swimming.
@KateGray I'm very sorry to hear that you have negative emotions connected to your acnh game, thank you for the extremely honest and personal article.
I too have lost a bit of interest in the game after my initial few months of playing it religiously every day, but I think mine was more due to burnout. I've essentially been playing 2 games as I have been playing it with my 5 year old daughter and while she can run about and hit things with her net, stuff like mortgage payments and seasonal goodies were left to me to do twice as she'd have been upset if I had a massive house and she was still living in a tent. I certainty had the completionist mindset initially (doing all the bunny day quests twice was a mission!) As I didn't want my daughter to miss any of the items, but over autumn I just collected a few pine cones and only really logged in in winter for the toy day stuff. I found that the game has really helped my anxiety and feelings of worry during this crappy time we are all going through by giving me a happy little world to interact with away from all the current madness but now that I'm just dipping into it occasionally it's much less stressful. I still have to pay off the bells for my daughter though so she can have a basement like mine haha.
I hope you can get back to a happy place with your egg island and enjoy it once again. X
@theiRiS same :/
@SonOfStayPuft I admire that you can still enjoy it every day, even if it's just shaking trees or diving and digging up fossils~
I haven't really played since June... I've noticed a lot of people saying June too for some reason! I wonder why June? I've only dropped in a couple times since then when diving was introduced and once during the Fall season, only to immediately burn out both times. I sunk an easy 400 hours into the game since I got it on release day, and I played it religiously every day from then, up until June. Maybe that had something to do with it, but I'm not sure haha. I've always loved the Animal Crossing series, having played it from the GameCube, but this burnout was a lot different. It took me years of playing New Leaf before I felt burnt-out from that, so why this? It could be the villagers constantly saying the same exact things, the personalities repeating the same few lines every time I talk to them, making them seem less genuine. And that makes me sad because I love my Bob and Al but they keep repeating each other :<
It's weird, I felt like a stranger to my own game once the diving update hit. I'd log in, step outside of my house, and I felt... strange. I felt like a visitor, and not so much of a welcome one. I don't know if it was because I didn't like my island layout or what I've done/didn't do with some of the areas, or the fact that I hate summer because of the heat, but something changed. Hopefully soon I'll get the urge to play again before the snow disappears!
Oof, relatable. I mainlined this game from day one (and it was my first ever AC game, so the charms were entirely novel and therefore that much more intoxicating), and ended up - as you put it, Kate - squeezing the joy right out. I dropped in on my village sporadically through July and August in a half-hearted effort to keep up with the new content, but unfortunately I'd just wore myself out too much to find it engaging.
Only just this week have I begun dipping in again, taking care to give myself only small and brief goals. So far it's somewhat mildly fun again. Hope that keeps up. Hope we all end this year on a much brighter note than we began it.
@KateGray Wait you're in Canada right now?!
@pixelpatch I sure am!
@TheLightSpirit I can relate to you a lot - I was struggling early this year with a disorder of my own (which I didn't go into in the article!). It made life really hard for a long time.
It's difficult to see the light when you're in the middle of a dark patch, isn't it? But I had people tell me that it would get better, and it did. It always does. I hope you get to your "better" soon. <3
@Nintendo_Alski I love hearing people talk about how playing it with their children makes everything more enjoyable! I have no kids of my own but maybe I can borrow one some day
@KateGray haha I don't have any you can borrow I'm afraid 😅 to be honest though she has helped me revisit and complete some games that I would have given up on otherwise. We've completed crash trilogy, shantae half genie hero and seven sirens and paper mario origami King together and we are currently 3/4 of the way through paper mario colour splash on the WiiU. It's a nice shared experience that we have together on the days that she stays with me. 🥰
@Nintendo_Alski That's really sweet It sounds lovely to have someone so excited about things, so you get to see them with new eyes.
@KateGray it is indeed I'm very lucky. I think the fact that I have to read out all the text in games (and sometimes do the voices) so she can follow what's happening rather than skipping through it makes me feel more engaged with the games too. 😊
@KateGray
I like how you decided to get a 5-hour headstart ahead of your friends since your Switch is on a UK account. 🤔
I also have something else to say regarding your headstart:
It stinks that you weren't able to enjoy New Horizons after a while, even though you were able to reconnect with some of your friends that you haven't contacted in a while, so at least you re-gained some friendships.
I also haven't played New Horizons in a while, even though I'm a big fan of the series, because I felt that New Horizons didn't have as much of a spirit as the previous Animal Crossing games have.
@Nintendo_Alski I play games with my partner, who reads a lot slower than me, so it forces me to slow down, too! Please note that I'm not saying he has the reading speed of a child, I just read too fast and miss half the information 😅
@SM3DASislit I got the five-hour headstart and then spent several of those hours boasting about it on Twitter, taking screenshots, and texting friends!
I booted the game up just now and I had a bunch of letters from friends I haven't reached out to in a while... maybe that'll be the reason I go back to egg
I did the exact same thing. Played the hell out of the game, but then society in Norway reopened.
Started playing again close to Christmas, and is has been such an experience. I celebrated Christmas alone, so for me this really got me through.
Biggest tip is to just relax, and do whatever you feel like that day.
Currently I am running around trying to move rocks and other unecessary things.
A friend of mine quoted it the best: "This game is like a digital form of someone wrapping you in a warm blanket and giving you a tasty cup of hot cocoa!" <3
@KateGray
Okay, it's good to be proud of making (or accomplishing) something, but finding that balance of being proud (but not too proud) can be a hard task to do sometimes. From the article, it doesn't you went too crazy with it (unless I missed something). 🤔
Yeah, I had that happen one time where I hadn't played the game in a while, I went back to it, and I got a lot of letters as well. Seems like you found your reason to jump back in, and I hope your upcoming New Horizons adventures are even better than before.
I'm honestly waiting for more of the features from the previous games to come back, before I jump back into New Horizons again (something I thought I'd never say, given how big of an Animal Crossing fan I am). 🤔
Speaking of jumping back into things, did you guys receive the news tips I sent you guys yesterday? 🤔
@KateGray Paper Mario really didn't do it for me either. Bosses were awful and the normal battles pointless as they weren't even fun. Same as you I've been addicted to Hades for weeks. At 62 or 63 completions now and only unlocked 2 of the helpers less than 5 completions ago and still have not got the 6th! Want to get all of them at least before I say I am finished. Also have only unlocked one fourth aspect!
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