With the pandemic going on, many of us need to stay home. For those of us who are video game enthusiasts and Nintendo fans, a new game called Animal Crossing New Horizons is the new craze.

   The game came out March 20th, 2020, specifically for the Nintendo switch console. Animal Crossing fans from previous games had been awaiting the release for quite some time.

A best seller since its release 

      Mike Monti from Venture Beat reports that since the release of the game in March, it has sold over 12 million copies. This game has become the second best-selling game of the year in a little over a month,which makes it pretty impressive. The game itself is very simple,focusing on an islander (the player) building a civilization on a remote island with villagers that are animals. The game gained so much popularity for its overall wholesomeness and in-game interactions, with its adorable characters, which is very shocking to people since most best-selling games focus on at least some mild violence.

 The creativity that fuels the game

     The game has a lot of creative freedom which makes it so likeable. It is considered a “crafting game” which means the players have to work from scratch in order to create towards their goal. The players have to get resources from their island by exploring the wilderness, mining for iron underneath rocks, chopping trees for wood, and growing fruit trees for food.

 The players then craft basic amenities needed for the island and its animal villagers, such as stores, bridges and roads.  The game starts building itself as the players continue to customize their own island town with their own villages with peculiar animal characters that the players can choose to invite to their island. “It’s just a relaxing game you can play when you are stressed out. You also get to see and make your own village,” said senior Carla Pulido.

   Inside the game, there are many events a player and the game itself hosts. College student Renato Blandon said, “I really like how you can get creative with it. It’s a crafting game which gives me the freedom to do things as I please. I enjoy playing it with my girlfriend.”

 The wholesomeness behind it all

  Animal Crossing focuses on the animals on the player’s island. The player starts with two animals who move into the island with them; then the animal community grows from there. Every animal in the game has a different personality and different likings. Their personalities differ from being innocent to grumpy, friendly, lazy or even snobby. The player then has interactions with the animals and creates friendships with them.

    “I started playing the Animal Crossing Series about two years ago, with Animal Crossing New Leaf. It inspired me to play the new edition. The game is known for how wholesome it is and I love it. The villagers even teach some valuable life lessons sometimes,” said senior Katherine Quezada.

     Every animal in the game has unique cartoony designs which make them adorable to players. It is the player’s job to keep up with their animal friends, run errands for them sometimes, solve any trivial conflicts and pursue more animals to move to their island.

    Nidia Cruz, a child behavioral analyst and child psychologist, said, “I recommend this game to my patients. It is a nice change to your usual video game in which you’re always having to kill something or someone to beat a certain level. I can see why many kids and adults are playing this as a stress relief, or just to have something keep you company at times like these.”

 A good way to hangout 

   With our critical circumstances, we all need to find ways to stay safe and entertained. The Animal Crossing game community is growing more by thousands each day which makes it a good game to play with friends.  Players can visit each other’s islands through online play mode. The players can host several events and explore each other’s islands which opens up the doors to more creativity since players can rate each other’s islands and give each other feedback on their islands via chatting.

Last 5 Animal Crossing Releases

2020 – Animal Crossing New Horizons For Nintendo Switch:   13.4 million copies sold

2017 – Animal Crossing Pocket Camp for Mobile Devices:  42.3 million downloads ( free to play )

2012 – Animal Crossing New Leaf for Ninendo 3DS:    12.45 million copies sold

2008 – Animal Crossing City Folk for the Nintendo Wii:  4 million copies sold

2005 – Animal Crossing Wild World for the Nintendo DS :   11.75 million copies sold

Source : https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_Crossing_(series)