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Abstract

/p><h1 id="0275">Island Time</h1><p id="c987">What else is there to do, but head to an imaginary island? In <i>Animal Crossing: New Horizons, </i>we live in a<i> </i>peaceful place where none of the resident villagers have any need to wear masks or practice social distancing. Occasionally, one of them will get sick. They’ll sit at home sneezing and looking miserable. No worries! All you have to do is give them medicine, and they’re as good as new.</p><p id="fa74">If you wondered, my daughter still tasks me with jobs. She expects me to stay up past her bedtime and watch for shooting stars on my island. Then she heads over the next morning to harvest the star fragments on my beach. I must admit, she has grown more generous than the early <i>Minecraft</i> years. She sends me presents every day through the mail.</p><p id="6bf9">She needs bells, lots of them. I dutifully rush around my island doing jobs to collect them for her. At first, I thought I was playing this game for her. For us to have a connection and to give her something to do during this strange summer.</p><h1 id="e4cc">I Love This Game</h1><p id="10f5">But I found myself drawn into the peaceful, simple world. I talk to my animals. I give them presents. I donate every new find to Blathers to help complete the museum. I’ve upgraded my house (it took a while as most of my bells end up with my daughter.) I buy outfits and have been chatting every day with the little hedgehog seamstress in the clothes shop. (Yes, she eventually opens up to you if you keep trying.)</p><p id="ff24">What is going on here? How did I get sucked into an obsession with a children’s game? And I’m not the only one. It’s immensely popular, selling almost <a href="https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/06/rumour_animal_crossing_new_horizons_has_reportedly_been_downloaded_more_than_10_million_times">12 million physical copies in 12 days and 10 million downloads</a> over the past few months through Nintendo’s eShop.</p><p id="664f">It’s all over social media. Resident Services employee, Isabelle, even has her own Twitter feed. Which is infinitely more pleasant than anything else you’ll find on Twitter these days.</p> <figure id="0454"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9">

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<iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?type=text%2Fhtml&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;schema=twitter&amp;url=https%3A//twitter.com/animalcrossing/status/1280486730395725825&amp;image=" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" width="500">
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    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="8615">There is a psychology behind why this game is the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/24/psychological-benefits-of-the-sims-animal-crossing-during-covid-19.html">game of the moment</a>.</p><h2 id="06d4">Psychological Benefits of Life Simulating Video Games</h2><ul><li>It helps us stay social during a pandemic. My daughter can’t visit her cousin this summer, but they can visit each other’s islands. Some players have even been surprised by a celebrity visit.</li></ul>
    <figure id="3dce">
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            <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9">
            <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?type=text%2Fhtml&amp;key=d04bfffea46d4aeda930ec88cc64b87c&amp;schema=twitter&amp;url=https%3A//twitter.com/directedbyrian/status/1253365992849276934&amp;image=" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" width="500">
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    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><ul><li>It’s under our control. Different from the real world, you’ve got control over your Animal Crossing world. You can build your dream home and design your island anyway that you want.</li><li>It’s an escape. Unlike an overly complex game that provides a distraction, yet makes you frustrated, there isn’t much of a learning curve for Animal Crossing. Yet it’s still satisfying to accomplish in-game goals.</li><li>It’s soothing. The game follows the real clock. Meaning, when it’s night in real life, it will be nighttime on your island. The slow-paced nature of the game is similarly satisfying to other real-world tasks like gardening or knitting.</li></ul><p id="e98d">There’s no final goal. This game will never end, but I’m sure my daughter and I will get back into our busy lives someday. Our islands and the animals on them aren’t going anywhere. It will all be waiting for us if we ever need a vacation.</p></article></body>

All I Want to Do Is Play Animal Crossing

I blame my 9-year old for introducing me to this addictive game

My daughter always gets me into these things. I am not a gamer. And yet, a few years ago she had me playing Minecraft. She’d send me out to collect coal and iron while she stayed in decorating the house.

If I found a diamond, she would appear, demanding all of my hard-earned spoils. When she built, she’d task me with jobs, throwing blocks at me and telling me to get busy building the floor of her mansion.

And though I often read about the negatives of screentime for little ones, I didn’t let myself worry too much. We played together. She was engaged and happy, even active. She’d bounce on her little trampoline in the middle of the living room, happily chattering away while playing a more skilled game than I was capable of.

As she grew older, our lives became busier, and we had less time to play Minecraft together. But now, thanks to Covid-19, we’re home all the time. One moment we were rushing around from activity to activity. And then, just like that, our busy lives vanished.

Remote learning in the spring has turned into a strange and empty summer; no summer camps, no water park, no vacations, no visiting family. Just time spent at home with the looming knowledge that school will start soon.

She wants to go back to school. I want her to go back to school. But not like this. Masks, virus fears, social distancing. Almost a month away and no clear idea of what returning to school will look like.

This world is full of stress. I’m tired of the worries. I’m tired of the astonishing daily headlines. I’m tired of an out of control virus running rampant in a country with failed leadership.

Island Time

What else is there to do, but head to an imaginary island? In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, we live in a peaceful place where none of the resident villagers have any need to wear masks or practice social distancing. Occasionally, one of them will get sick. They’ll sit at home sneezing and looking miserable. No worries! All you have to do is give them medicine, and they’re as good as new.

If you wondered, my daughter still tasks me with jobs. She expects me to stay up past her bedtime and watch for shooting stars on my island. Then she heads over the next morning to harvest the star fragments on my beach. I must admit, she has grown more generous than the early Minecraft years. She sends me presents every day through the mail.

She needs bells, lots of them. I dutifully rush around my island doing jobs to collect them for her. At first, I thought I was playing this game for her. For us to have a connection and to give her something to do during this strange summer.

I Love This Game

But I found myself drawn into the peaceful, simple world. I talk to my animals. I give them presents. I donate every new find to Blathers to help complete the museum. I’ve upgraded my house (it took a while as most of my bells end up with my daughter.) I buy outfits and have been chatting every day with the little hedgehog seamstress in the clothes shop. (Yes, she eventually opens up to you if you keep trying.)

What is going on here? How did I get sucked into an obsession with a children’s game? And I’m not the only one. It’s immensely popular, selling almost 12 million physical copies in 12 days and 10 million downloads over the past few months through Nintendo’s eShop.

It’s all over social media. Resident Services employee, Isabelle, even has her own Twitter feed. Which is infinitely more pleasant than anything else you’ll find on Twitter these days.

There is a psychology behind why this game is the game of the moment.

Psychological Benefits of Life Simulating Video Games

It helps us stay social during a pandemic. My daughter can’t visit her cousin this summer, but they can visit each other’s islands. Some players have even been surprised by a celebrity visit.

It’s under our control. Different from the real world, you’ve got control over your Animal Crossing world. You can build your dream home and design your island anyway that you want.
It’s an escape. Unlike an overly complex game that provides a distraction, yet makes you frustrated, there isn’t much of a learning curve for Animal Crossing. Yet it’s still satisfying to accomplish in-game goals.
It’s soothing. The game follows the real clock. Meaning, when it’s night in real life, it will be nighttime on your island. The slow-paced nature of the game is similarly satisfying to other real-world tasks like gardening or knitting.

There’s no final goal. This game will never end, but I’m sure my daughter and I will get back into our busy lives someday. Our islands and the animals on them aren’t going anywhere. It will all be waiting for us if we ever need a vacation.