Summary
- COVID led to a surge in gaming, providing a sense of routine and connection during a bad time.
- The lockdown moment was ephemeral in nature.
- I hate you, Zipper.
I still remember what I was doing the exact moment I knew COVID-19 wasn’t going away. It was March 2020 and the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons was literally on the horizon. But that felt like a distant future as I sat in the living room with my wife, waiting for AEW wrestling to come on.
And at that moment, the NBA announced its season was coming to an end. There are certain inevitabilities in life. Death, taxes, and professional sports. I hadn’t been scared about the news reports to that point. Charles Barkley telling me basketball was over did scare me, weirdly enough.
This started one of the most harrowing and strangest years of my life. A full lockdown would be issued not long after, and with it came a lot of time to think. And game, right? After all, wasn’t the adult dream growing up all about having the time and resources to play whatever, whenever?

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A monkey’s paw curled one of its fingers somewhere. Wish granted. But I’d be a liar if I said that this stretch of stay-at-home gaming wasn’t memorable… Or that I miss how it brought everyone in the gaming zeitgeist together in a way that’s felt like a phantom absence ever since.
All of my friends left my Animal Crossing island, and so did I. I want to go back. I can’t go back.
Animal Crossing, Lockdown, And Time To Kill

Gee. Thanks, Tom.
The initial days of the COVID-19 lockdown still seem surreal, in retrospect. My wife was going to the grocery store at seven in the morning, attempting to grab essentials, which were quickly dwindling. Meanwhile, I was trying to keep my head above water and keep up with new releases while not focusing on how the world felt on fire.
More to the point, I suddenly found myself with time to kill and quiet silences to fill.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out at the absolute best time, in that respect. I remember scheduling a pick-up time for my physical copy at my local game shop, one of the first times I went out during lockdown. Getting the game home, loading up, and finding a barren island and a lonely tent felt almost too on the nose for my then-current situation.
But sometimes we have to make the best out of our situation. So, I built my little tent, put a new hat on my villager, and got to work pulling weeds. Animal Crossing provided an amazing sense of routine in those early pandemic days. Not only was it part of the gameplay loop, but I didn’t want to fall behind all of my friends on social media going through the same thing.

I hate you still, Zipper.
People often (sometimes rightfully so) say harsh things about the nature of social media. I’m one of the lucky ones, though. Not only was the majority of my games writing work found through Twitter, but I had also amassed a tight group of people that I loved interacting with daily. So was the case with playing Animal Crossing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even secluded and sheltering in place, I didn’t feel alone.
At the exact moment that I was playing and discovering new things on my island, so was everyone else on various social timelines. Everyone was sharing pictures, talking about their struggles, and coping as best they could. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but never had my circles felt closer.
But a single tent would never be enough. I needed more. As my house grew, so did my need for interaction and visitors. So it goes.
Our House, In The Middle Of Our Street

I’m fine. It’s fine.
My wife and I were reflecting on the pandemic era this week and talked about how the experience of playing Animal Crossing during that time made us both stretch outside our comfort zones. For her, it was getting super into the item collection of Animal Crossing. She even went as far as participating in island visit swaps on Reddit and honest-to-god Animal Crossing webbrings.
For me, it was visiting the islands of any and everyone who posted their friend code on Twitter. Going to someone’s island felt like such an active experience, especially since they needed to be online and there with you. Not once did I fail to smile upon getting off the plane while going to a new island and seeing another real person waiting for me at the dock.
Yes, show me around your home. My real home is full of trash and sadness. But our Animal Crossing homes? That is where our hearts were, for now.

Please, fly me away.
Being able to silently interact with strangers and go on these strange tours was a privilege in the days and weeks when distraction felt like premium currency. This was no more true than when Nintendo was actually still updating the game and adding new items – a thing they stopped doing after the game’s first expansion released.
But all things come to an end. Eventually, the ‘hard lockdown’ in our area stopped and life had to go on. A strange part of my heart felt sad, however. Something shifted, like a couch being moved to a new spot in the living room. It wasn’t the same.
Do I Really Want To Go Back?

I realize I come from a place of privilege in saying that I miss this period. People died, families struggled, and my own mental health became a hazard. It wasn’t a good time. That doesn’t mean I can’t miss these small, broken moments where the face of the void looked at me and I looked right back without worry. The COVID era forever changed our lives, including my own. None of us, including generations to come, will ever be the same.
It almost feels sad when I look at my game collection and see my copy of Animal Crossing collecting dust.
There is no going back to the island, not really. My New Horizons experience was set against a time and place that cannot be replicated. I’m not that person anymore. We aren’t the same people. I can’t even reconnect with my old island friends, as I’ve lost track of them after deleting my X account last year.
But I do hold onto the way those early days made me feel. On the far wall of my first Animal Crossing home, I replicated the wall Eleanor from The Good Place sees upon waking up in her supposed afterlife. “Welcome! Everything is fine.” in big green letters spread across my digital home.

Everything is alright.
If I close my eyes and think hard enough, then even on my worst days I can think about that place and feel a tiny bit better. To quote my favorite Motion City Soundtrack song:
“Tell me that you’re alright. Yeah, everything is alright.”
