We're all addicted to Animal Crossing

We were a bit late to the game, as it were, with Animal Crossing. During lockdown, people all over the world were losing themselves in an imaginary reality, creating their own peaceful islands and holding virtual meet ups with friends to swap fruit and flowers. But having played the game before, many years ago and before children, I knew that once I started playing I'd be hooked, and I remembered what happened when you didn't play for a few days - a return to an overgrown village in ruins, being chastised for your absence by angry villagers.

But having seen everyone chatting about it all summer on social media I was rather keen to play the new game, and so we finally bought a copy in the last couple of weeks of the holiday. The Switch console had been neglected recently as the children tend to use their iPads for their gaming, and so I thought it would be nice to get a bit more use from it.

Luckily I was the one to play the game first, which in hindsight was a really good move. I didn't realise until afterwards that this new version of the game is set up slightly differently. If there are several players on the one console then they need to share an island, and the first one to play is in charge and the only one able to perform certain functions. I can't imagine the conflict it would have caused if this role had been given to one of the children! There's a multiplayer mode to the game but it isn't very good.

I wasn't very happy sharing at first, as I was looking forward to having my own island to plan and decorate. However it's not so bad, the children and I can pool our money and resources for island improvements, we share our surplus items and we send little gifts to each other. But the problems come with the need to make sure that everyone has equal playing time, and I recently caused an argument by spending my savings to add a room to my house instead of contributing to a bridge upgrade. 

Photo credit Sara Kurfess via Unsplash

Animal Crossing is definitely an addictive game, despite the gentle repetitiveness. It's definitely much more fun roaming around a virtual island to pick up twigs and weeds rather than spending half an hour weeding my own vegetable patch. Likewise, I spend a lot more time rearranging the furniture in my virtual home than dusting my actual house. I'm not an expert on the science of digital addiction but I know that a big factor is the dopamine hits, which are continually triggered throughout play when you successfully catch a fish or acquire a recipe for the missing furniture item in a set. 

Playing the game is also a way of escaping from the real world to somewhere that you can control and improve, which is why I can see it was such a hit during lockdown. It also offers opportunities to meet up with friends online and play together as well as sending letters and gifts, so it's a fun way to keep in touch with family and friends.

Of course now that the children are back at school they have less opportunity for screen time. So it has become part of my own routine to log under their accounts each day to collect the 'Nook Miles' which accumulate as you spend consecutive days playing, keep an eye on the fluctuating turnip prices and generally make sure that they've been present and active in the game world. I'm also busy on my own account catching sea creatures and selling shells so that I can save up enough money to pay for all the improvements that they want.

We've been having a lot of fun playing this game and I can see it continuing for a good while yet!