Animal Crossing New Horizons

Platform: Nintendo Switch Pegi rating: 3

Ahh, animal crossing. The game that got us all through lockdown. Turnips and bells became our everyday. What weird and wonderful memories we will have of 2020. Yay.

But obviously this means I’ve got to give a review on this game, the game that no one will probably ever forget.

This game is probably the most simple game you could ever play. You move to a barren island with a bunch of animals and spend the rest of your life paying off a squirrel. You build a house and singlehandedly build an entire community while completing chores like weeding and chopping wood. Pffft, writing it doesn’t make it sound like fun.

But that’s the thing! It’s the most relaxing and satisfying game to play! It changes for every season and holds special events for special days. Santa Claus comes to town and pumpkins visit during Halloween.

There’s nothing better than spending a relaxing afternoon on this game. It doesn’t take too long to complete the “main quest” but the actual game can last pretty much forever, by editing your island and building more furniture. That’s what’s so smart about it, it’s a game that can last you forever, so long as it’s updated.

The choice of furniture is so great, you could have several different themes all across your island, or mix and match depending on your mood or personality. Imperial themed with cute pink pieces of furniture? Why not?

There are all different animals you can get on the island who become your neighbours, which you can kick off your island if you don’t like them. Teaching kids kindness one step at a time. My favourite has to be Ketchup, this cute little duck literally makes my day, except from the fact that I keep getting called “Subscriber”, a nickname I accidentally let her start calling me. I can’t stop it now. Which is just..... it’s just great.

I absolutely love collecting all different insects, fish and fossils to give to the museum. I love making the aquarium and it makes me just a little too giddy when I’m in there.

Since you get new things pretty much monthly, it can be hard to track exactly where you are. When you first get the game, you know what you’re doing and what you get. But get into the months of lockdown or spend a couple of months playing different games and you have a lot of catching up to do. That’s not an actual problem with the game though, that’s just a problem with my personal time keeping.

In all honesty, I don’t think there’s anything about this game that I’m disappointed in or dislike about it. For me, it’s practically perfect in every way, the video game version of Mary Poppins. Plus, since I love the bones of this game, I’m not going to do a top 4 things about the game either. Let’s just leave it at it’s a really great game.

I rate this game 10 stars, especially since I can’t find anything wrong with it! I definitely think this game is suitable for any ages and for anyone, though some patience is needed and time. Definitely one of the best games to be released this year and a game I hope will continue to grow over the next few years.

Charlie