Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out in the midst of the Great Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020 and has taken my life by storm. Perhaps it was the timing of the release coinciding with an abundance of free time that had made it so attractive. Maybe it’s the wide array of whimsical villagers who come along for the ride. Originally not interested in such a seemingly mundane game, now I find it extremely difficult to skip a day.

Much like a day job, there’s a laundry list of daily checkbox tasks to accomplish each day. From finding the randomly assigned money pit on the island or digging up the 3 daily fossil, these tasks take your around the island, and provide enough “mundane” activity to give you enough to do to feel accomplished while not setting the difficulty bar too high. Along the way, I would often find parts of the islands that could be improved or cleaned up. These little things turn into bigger terraforming projects and next thing I knew, I was building a neighborhood to keep all the villagers I’ve accrued.

Over time, I found that the best part of the game is not actually anything in the game. It’s the social aspects of discussing the game with friends. With everyone under quarantine, we have to forgo the usual methodologies of staying connected. In its place, I found myself discussing strategies for organizing fruit tree farms, and how best to optimize the amount of ores yielded from rocks. As a social creature who has been forced to stay indoors, it’s a respite from the daily drudge.

This social element of the game is even more flamed by the ability to visit each others islands. However clunky the transportation system is, it’s always an exciting experience to visit friends’ islands. Every seaplane landing is a mini-surprise. What did so-and-so make since the last time I visited? I wonder what their turnip price is? Did they create any new outfits? It’s amusing that these things that I didn’t think I’d pay any attention to are now a source of joy.

For me, I’d like to think of it as a therapy. Obsession has a negative spin to it and Animal Crossing is helping me de-stress, which is huge. Anyway, Nika and I (mostly Nika) made a website for groups of people to track turnip prices at www.stalk-market.com. That’s not obsessive behavior right? 🤔