Animal Crossing: NewHorizons — one of the most discussed games of 2020. More than a month has passed since its release, but hype doesn’t subside. Probably, such popularity is related to the big releases’ failure of 2020. Some of them were postponed due to the situation with COVID-19, others were delayed for other reasons.
We used to think the Animal Crossing is a standard farm with social elements. The player finds himself on an almost deserted island. He begins a new life there, without any basic needs or danger. Most of the time the player gathers resources, make stools and various trifles, engaged in gardening, goes fishing, earns money, etc.
Do you consider this monotony? You can visit another distant part of the land and look for new plants and animals there. In the same way, you can fly to the friend’s “farm” – an extra opportunity to visit somebody, despite the quarantine.
So why do people like to play this game?
First of all, Animal Crossing: New Horizon is a great timekiller. No matter how hard the game tries to limit the user’s content, it’s really difficult to get out of it and go to bed at the usual time. Weeding and fishing bring some inexplicable pleasure, which is difficult to get in other titles.
Probably, because Animal Crossing: New Horizon is made to relax and lift your spirits. Every element works for this: cute animations, simple dialogues, applause after the character’s luck. Thus, the game even has a certain effect of meditation – it’s absolutely impossible to get angry in it, no matter how bad the day was before.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has one important feature that sets it apart from all the games it can be compared to.
There’s time literally tied to the real. The day in New Horizons lasts 24 hours, and if you run the game, for example, at 13:15 local time, there will be also 13:15 in the game time.
But the coolest thing is that the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons lives according to the real calendar. There’re also Holidays take place – the authors are constantly releasing content updates and developing the game. The seasons in New Horizons, of course, also change – in June, summer will begin, new species of fish and insects will appear, then autumn and winter will come (it’s possible to sculpt a snowmen). Binding to real-time and a lot of endless activities – just what keeps millions of players in Animal Crossing.
