Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game released by Nintendo. In the game, the player completes mundane tasks, including talking to characters, planting flowers, and fishing. For outsiders, the game seems bland. After all, why would you invest time in a game with no proper ending and no meaning? Regardless, I will be discussing the major impact of the game during this crisis.
I have played over 165 hours of Animal Crossing in several weeks. Simultaneously, the world falls apart. Jobs are lost, people are dying, and the cracks of the capitalist system we trusted are reaping lives. Yet, here I am, safe and indoors. Millions share the same reality as me. Animal Crossing: New Horizons garnered tremendous praise, with 1.88 million copies being sold within days of the release. For many, including myself, Animal Crossing is a means to escape reality.
As the apocalypse continues, the Animal Crossing community finds peace. When the world was put into lockdown, we had the time to create wholesome spaces that enabled friendships, communication, and empowerment. For many of us, the world continues as it is transferred onto a new platform. From schools hosting graduations, to couples holding weddings, to companies doing remote work through the game, it is as if Nintendo planned the timely release of New Horizons.
Graduation Being Held on ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’.
Thinking about ideas of peace, there really isn’t any better way to encapsulate them than looking at how Animal Crossing enabled solidarity amidst COVID-19. Psychologist Chris Ferguson even discussed how Animal Crossing promotes mental wellbeing through the provision of control, socialisation, and escapism in the pandemic.
If Animal Crossing is so great, then where is the conflict? I argue that Animal Crossing promotes conflict in two ways: through the mechanics of the game’s financial system, and through the juxtaposition of the game and reality.
The mechanics of Animal Crossing heavily rely on in-game monetary transactions, with the player having to pay off mortgages, and a literal stock market involving turnips (playfully named the stalk market), where losses and profits are made. The game could not exist without the capitalist backdrop, as it is literally impossible to progress without adhering to capitalist norms.
Which leads to the second idea: Animal Crossing enables complacency in crisis. In a time where we should be critically assessing the system that cost millions of lives, we accept it. We wait for the disaster to pass and turn a blind eye to the lives lost in the coronavirus war that was crafted by poor health systems, disparities, and unequal distributions of wealth.
The consequences of Animal Crossing are greater than we know. It is a juxtaposition in itself. Just as it has prevented suicide, it has induced addiction. While it brings about connectedness, it ignores the disasters of the pandemic. This being said, the game isn’t inherently malicious. Animal Crossing developers said they hoped the game would provide comfort in this difficult time. After all, with the pandemic, staying home means saving lives.
I enjoy this post, as I’ve also been playing Animal crossing in isolation, and the ideas you pose about it creating conflict are very interesting and I’d love to add to them.
You bring up that the conflicts of animal crossing are based around the financial/capitalist aspects. I think Animal Crossing is particularly successful due to the familiarity of the conflict it creates (despite the flaws of the capitalist system). The financial issue which the game creates is one we can all relate to in our life, so completing it in a game makes the sense of success all the more relaxing and impactful, and a small part of our feeling of financial success may potentially translate to a real-life sense of confidence (despite this sounding silly).
Furthermore, Covid-19 presents a conflict which we can’t easily solve or take measures against, whereas Animal Crossing does the opposite. The in-game conflicts are comparatively extremely easy to manage and resolve, which allows us an immense sense of relief in a time which we feel rather helpless. Animal Crossing allows us to micro-manage and control our own small world, which is undeniably comforting when that can be so difficult alongside the corona virus backdrop.
I was hoping someone would do a current events based article! This was an awesome read and I loved the way you put the game under a microscopic lens, looking at it from all sides. I’ve been holding off playing for a while but the fact that they have a ‘stalk market’ made me download it right after reading this! I’m ready to be distracted from my worries while giving in to the game’s ‘capitalist norms’.