I said it before in a previous blog post, but could you imagine how much harder it would be to go through Covid-19 and lockdown if we didn’t live in a digital age? We would have all lost it mentally within a month. I remember back in March 2020, everyone was in despair, we were isolated, bored, all hope seemed lost. But then, a ray of light parted the stormy clouds, and Nintendo released Animal Crossing New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch.
Now full preference, I was always planning on getting this game. I had both Animal Crossing City Folk (for the Wii) and Animal Crossing New Leaf (for the 3DS) and I have always found the game charming and relaxing. However, when this game released in March 2020, the entire world exploded. Physical copies of the game were instantly sold out (forcing me to buy a digital copy). Everyone and their mothers bought this game. Quarantine unintentionally caused Nintendo’s sales to skyrocket. More people wanted ways to beat the boredom while quarantining, the answer? Buy a Nintendo Switch and Animal Crossing. I knew so many people who were looking for Switches that summer. It was a beacon of hope for people around the world.
Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game, where players interact with other gamers on an island while collecting and building items, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was an immediate success, selling more than 13 million copies in the first six weeks after its release to become the Switch’s fastest-selling game title ever. Of course, a huge factor in this was timing, as I don’t believe the game would have sold nearly as much as it did, had it not been for the Global Quarantine. These restrictions had been a secret blessing in disguise for Nintendo. The game series was already known to be a relaxing, easy-going, wholesome and positive experience, and that was exactly what the world needed when it was released.
To this day, I have spent over 440 hours on Animal Crossing New Horizons. I have completely shaped my island into my own little utopia, where I spend a portion of each day catching fish, bugs, digging up fossils, talking to my adorable animal neighbours. I have spent just as much time online looking at ideas for my island, designing, shaping and repeating the process whenever I get bored of the current layout. The best part for sure about Animal Crossing, was that my friends and I would visit each other’s islands. We would give each other Island tours, play hide and seek, have fashion shows, you name it. We even celebrated the new year together on Animal Crossing since our original plans to celebrate it in person was cancelled due to travel restrictions.
Animal Crossing wasn’t the only game that “saved us” during Covid. If Animal Crossing is the wholesome game that brings people together, then Among Us is the deception game that brings friends together by tearing them apart. Video game development company Innersloth released Among Us in June 2018, but the app wasn’t widely known until late last year, when their numbers skyrocketed. Their players per hour rose from a mere 50 to almost 110,000. According to Apptopia, the game had been downloaded 74 million times, a 661% increase over the company’s original statistics from July. (Aaditya Saharan)
The premise of the game is simple: at the start of the game everyone is given one of two roles; either Crewmate or Imposter. Crewmates must complete tasks set around the map while also on the look out for any “sus behaviour”. The Imposters goal is to eliminate as many crewmates as possible until the number of imposters equal or are greater than the crewmates, winning them the game. However, Crewmates (and Imposters) can report a dead body on its discovery, leading to a meeting among the remaining alive players, in which they discuss the round and have the option to eject a player if the majority believe them to be an imposter. If the Imposters are successfully ejected, the Crewmates win. If they aren’t, the game continues. Imposters are encouraged to lie themselves out of suspicious situations and perhaps cast suspicion on another player, or even sit back and laugh as crewmates unknowingly cause suspicion on each other.
The game is completely free on mobile and is only 3 dollars on steam – and given the hours of fun I had playing this with my friends, I would have paid way more. The best way to play this game is to be on a Discord Call with your friends, muting yourselves while playing and only unmuting during meetings to discuss (dead players remain muted). I have joined servers and met so many new friends just playing this game. It has allowed us to be connected in a fun and interesting way during a time of isolation. It has also brought hours of entertainment value. Even if you don’t play the game itself, plenty of Youtubers have connected with each other and played Among us, leading to hilarious videos. Many well known Youtubers, such as Jacksepticeye and Valkyrae now play together with other YouTubers and Streamers. It has also allowed others to rise in Online fame, such as Sykkuno and Corpse Husband. This game, simple in design, created unity between us all.
Both of these games thrived during quarantine, Animal Crossing due to its “wholesome escapism” and Among Us for is fun social entertainment value. Both games won at the 2020 Game Awards; with Animal Crossing winning Best Family, and Among Us winning Best Mobile Game and Best Multiplayer Game. Both games are constantly updating themselves, with animal crossing releasing new items, events, villagers etc. While Among just released a new map, “the Airship”, which is based directly from the Henry Stickman Games. These games continue to provide entertainment to us during these tough times and I think that all the praise they receive is well deserved.
Tom Huddleston Jr. (June 2020) How ‘Animal Crossing’ and the coronavirus pandemic made the Nintendo Switch fly off shelves. CNBC Make It. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/02/nintendo-switch-animal-crossing-and-coronavirus-led-to-record-sales.html
Aaditya Saharan (January 2021) Among Us The Game That Saved Quarantine. The Knightly News. https://wwpknightlynews.com/2021/01/25/among-us-the-game-that-saved-quarantine/
Jacksepticeye (Youtube Channel) https://www.youtube.com/user/jacksepticeye
Valkyrae (Youtube Channel) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWxlUwW9BgGISaakjGM37aw
Sykkuno (YouTube Channel) https://www.youtube.com/user/Sykkuno
Corpse Husband (YouTube Channel) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFNTq9XKHDNy_1-2lL0kqCg
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