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‘Animal Crossing’ Is the Religion We Need Right Now
The game provides players a sense of daily routine and gives them an open world to wander — a luxury that’s sorely lacking from our lives
After Rachel Smith started showing symptoms of Covid-19, she had to leave her retail job. She then found herself stuck at home, quarantined with her mother, sister, stepfather, brother-in-law, and three cats. Bored and afraid, she looked for comfort in Animal Crossing.
“It’s a religion to me,” says the 28-year-old resident of Portsmouth, U.K. “It brings that feeling of peace and home and safety that a religion, higher being, or a place of worship can bring to people.”
Animal Crossing, a video game released by Nintendo in 2001, has no rules or objectives. You simply exist. In the latest version, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, released on March 20, players move to a deserted island and build the community from the ground up.
Previous versions of the game have the same basic idea, with some key differences. Each version takes place in a different location: a city, a town, an island, a campground, a wild world. You’re a cherubic human in a world full of cute animals, each with their own quirks and personalities. In prior Animal Crossing games, you move into a…
