I Am Addicted To Animal Crossing

Christa Adams
5 min readSep 15, 2020
Hello from my Island called Saorsa, meaning freedom in Scots Gaelic

Planting virtual flowering, showering my villagers with love, wishing on shooting stars, and redesigning my island 1,000 times over has consumed my life since the pandemic hit. I’m so addicted to the goodness of this game that I’ve accumulated of 300+ hours of game time since April, joined like 5 Reddit communities, a Facebook group, and literally talked my poor friends’ heads off who have absolutely no idea what I’m on about. So, why am I so addicted to this little game?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is this super zen video game available on the Nintendo Switch which allows you to create a home, chat up villagers, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life — virtually, of course. The New York Times named it the “Game for the Coronavirus Moment” and it’s no wonder why. It hit the charts its first week out and the Nintendo Switch was sold out for weeks quickly after. I mean…. did Nintendo know there was going to be a pandemic because its release was so perfectly timed! Just kidding, but seriously everyone sitting at home with nothing to do but live life on a virtual remote island. I was all in.

It reminds me of my childhood.

Though I’m playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which came out in March 20, 2020, the first game came out 19 years earlier on the Nintendo Cube. Remember that thing? Yeah, well way back in the fourth grade I had one along with the first Animal Crossing game. My sister and I used to race off the school bus up our hill to be the first one home to play after school. (I usually won).

Then, later when the Wii came out, we played Animal Crossing: City Folk which was pure bliss and such an upgrade graphically form the original!

Now we’ve got Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which is the first time I’ve played in adulthood and — wow! It has brought back so many memories, brightened my mood, and gives me a opportunity to spend time with my family. Let me explain.

Christa Adams

Freelance writer, solo traveler & sustainable explorer. http://christaadams.com