Being stuck inside for weeks can get pretty boring or repetitive. You can have a schedule for your day, or you can just… wing it. Will I play video games today? What will I eat today? Do I have a lot of school work I need to get done? It’s all the same.

But, soon after quarantine had started, Nintendo released yet another great game.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on March 20, 2020 on the Nintendo Switch- the perfect time to invest a ton of time into a game, because what else are you going to do in quarantine? 

The first Animal Crossing game was released in 2001, and was simply called Animal Crossing. You moved to this village filled with a few animals and had really not much to do. You could pay off your house loan, decorate a room or two in your house, chat with the villagers, and catch bugs or fish. There wasn’t much to the game. 

Not yet, at least.

Over the years, Nintendo would release more games, progressively adding more to do in the games as well. In 2012, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Probably one of the most popular Nintendo/3DS games. You would move to a new town and your villagers and the secretary, Isabelle, would greet you and mistake you for the mayor of the town. You’d do the same as the rest of the games, but now you have more customization and abilities as mayor.

But those are the past games, Animal Crossing’s background. Now we have the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

 In New Horizons, you get all the same things as the past games- catching bugs and fish for bells (the game’s currency), make friends with your villagers, and pay off your house loans. 

But there’s so much more in this game! You are practically god in New Horizons. You receive an “Island Getaway Package” and move to a new island in the middle of the ocean with two animal villagers. You become the island representative- basically you get to decide what the island becomes. Make pathways, move people’s houses, unlock and build shops, and you get to terraform the land! 

Their online play feature is especially great. While you can’t see your friend’s in the real world right now, why not connect together and visit each other’s islands in New Horizons? Up to 8 people can be on one island at a time, and you can find many “mini-games” to play together online. 

The game uses your real-world time. Although many people bypass this to finish things in-game quicker, they change the time on the Switch. However, if you’re more of a casual player and just want to take the game slowly, stick to the regular time if you’d like.