Animal Crossing and the Joy of Simple Games
As I’ve got older, I’ve become acutely aware of how quickly the sands of time are running out.
I started my gaming journey with a Sinclair Spectrum +2, way back in the mid-80s, but games have been a fairly constant part of my life.
Lately something has shifted.
Fun, not a second job...
Gaming in the mid 2020s is pretty bleak. The push towards derivative ‘live services’ that want to occupy all of your time is something that leaves me feeling pretty cold. I watch the latest week of gaming news and releases and there may be one game in a whole year that grabs my attention.
I don’t want to put hundreds of hours into it something just to get to the good parts. I don’t want the stress of endless checklists, of competition or to put time into something that just wants to waste that time.
The irony of all this is that the only games I seem to play these days (apart from MarioKart) are what you might call job simulators —mainly trucking simulators, or ‘cosy’ games. For the past few months I have been thoroughly enjoying Animal Crossing New Horizons.
It is a game where you live out a life on a little island with a revolving cast of anthropomorphic animal neighbours.
You start the game in a tent, before gradually building out your island, planting crops, crafting items, fishing and catching bugs. Soon you’ll be able to buy a house, decorate it and have visitors.
The beauty of it is that once you’re over the early hump, it is something you can just drop into for 10-20 minutes a day, do your tasks, make a bit of money and collecting things and put it aside until the next day.
There is a fairly steady trickle of visiting characters, ones that like bugs, ones that sell dodgy art and some that will challenge you to a fishing competition.
There’s no pressure to finish things, no pressure to spend hour upon hour of needlessly grinding. It has been a delight.
Whilst I still have a PC capable of playing games (as long as they work through Proton), I could conceivably get by with just the Switch 2 now. That’s quite freeing. I just need Valve to release Half Life 2 for it and I’ll be set.
This week I’ve managed to remove three bags of clutter from my life, but I’ve filled the wheely-bin and will need to wait until it is emptied so I can fill it again.
I would like to get to a point where I can walk out of wherever I am living with a ruck sack and a suitcase. Mobile consoles like the Switch fit neatly into that idea.
Animal Crossing feels like that comfortable home away from home that I can take wherever I may end up in the future.
