I love Animal Crossing

You might be living under a rock if you haven’t heard about the new Animal Crossing game, New Horizons. It’s been a huge hit with the quarantine since people need to stay inside. This is the 5th installment for the main Animal Crossing series and I have to say it’s the best one yet. I’ve played the games over the years and fell in love with the laid back, take your time and play your way style. Each day happens in real time, with events that can correspond with real life ones. There’s an Spring celebration, a Harvest celebration, a Holiday celebration and even a Halloween one! So let me take a moment to talk about why I love this game series so much.

Easy to Pick Up
The game is easy to fall into. In all cases, you’re relocating to a new place and the story follows your travels. You buy a home, decorate it, talk with the cute animals and play as you want. There’s no pressure into paying for your house. You can water the flowers each day in your own garden. You might want to design custom clothing. What if you want to be best friends with all the animals in the game? And there is a beautiful museum that relies on you filling it up. The options are endless in this game. In New Horizons you move to a deserted island and build it up into whatever you want it to be.

Carefree Living
Oh man, I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to take a walk on the beach. Sure it’s not a real beach but when your feet hit that digital sand, the music dims and all you can hear are ocean waves. It’s been ages since we went to the beach and we might not even get the chance to this year. The newest way to decote the island, is by getting items and placing them on the outdoor ground. Before you’d have to limit these items to indoor use. Now you can put a bonfire on the beach or put a hammock by the river. The possibilities are endless!

Calming Music
If you’ve never heard the Animal Crossing soundtrack, stop right now and head to Youtube. Play a few songs. I love the 7pm song and it brings back such nostalgic feelings. The songs change hourly and bring such a flavor to the game. I would love to wander through the trees on summer evenings and listen to the in game music. I’m a terrible night owl and some of the nighttime music is gorgeous. Of course the day time songs are as charming!

Friendly Neighbors
I love the animals that you meet on your travels. I’ve got a handful of favorites that kept me company on late nights. I hope that someday I can meet them again in my game! All the neighbors are random but there are methods of getting your favorites. It’s worth it to log into the game each day and be greeted by a familiar face. In these times, it’s so good to see a familiar face when we’re on lock down. They all have unique and special dialogue too, so it’s not like talking to a brick wall.

Adorable Fashion
I used to spend hours staring at the tiny pixels on my screen to get a skirt design right. I haven’t gotten to make new clothing yet but I love that we get the option to do so. The series has a way to make your character much more personal than it already is. Have a favorite outfit you can’t live without? You can make it in game. I wore a school uniform in my last game. It was a super adorable one that looked like what I wore in high school. Sometimes I reminisce on fond memories and think about how far I’ve come in life. It’s not much but the create a style in Animal Crossing makes me smile from ear to ear.