Ever since quarantine has started many people have been looking for an escape. Because of this many people have been trying out Animal Crossing’s newest release Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With this, the game has been experiencing praise and support. But that begs the question is Animal Crossing worth the hype?

In Animal Crossing the player becomes a villager who wins a deserted island getaway. The island’s owner Tom Nook allows the player to choose the name of the island and where the other island residents’ homes are. While there is no true goal in Animal Crossing the player can do tasks like fishing, bug catching, and flower planting to keep in good condition. In addition to that, they can either donate the items they collect to Blathers for his museum or they can sell the items to Nook Cranny to either get new items or pay off their debt. While this is happening new villagers may decide to live on the island and a town may form.

While it seems like the game is boring, to many people Animal Crossing has been a way to entertain and motivate themselves during this pandemic. In the past, it has been noted that Animal Crossing is therapeutic and has been recommended before to help people with depression, anxiety, and OCD. To many people, they can connect to villagers and make connections with them. The villages in the game all have different personalities and all feel and look different so every interaction with them feels more genuine and vital.