Yello's Gaming Journal
← Back
January 21, 2026 - My latest Animal Crossing fixation
I've been on an inexplicable obsession with Animal Crossing lately for the past month. The last times I was constantly playing was back in 2020 when New Horizons came out and 2015-2016 when I picked up the series for the first time with New Leaf. Except now, I've been keeping up with THREE Animal Crossing games at once, which is the original GameCube version, Wild World, and City Folk. I might be going insane. For some reason, the grind of earning Bells, filling out the museum, and getting all the items I can get became relaxing and addicting again. And I have a theory.
Animal Crossing becomes infinitely more enticing when I'm going through a tough time. It's no secret that life simulation games are magnets for people in need of escapism. While my personal life isn't currently all that depressing or stressful, the outside world certainly feels that way. 2025 was a year in which no sector was safe from the constant uncertainty, not even the gaming industry. Rising prices, constant anti-consumer news, and the general languishing of everything, it's been tough trying to just play a game for fun.
Although I've had my fill with New Horizons for a while now, I found myself going back to the older titles to remember what the original game loop felt like and I could not explain the sneaky hooks they had on me. Brain-off games get a bad rap for potentially rotting our brains, but I think they can be vital for true relaxation. A couple months ago, I had to rip myself away from playing Overwatch 2 because not only was it fueling my unhealthy need to "win the right way", but I progressively felt worse the more I played. So instead I turned to the complete opposite of that genre: a relaxing, slow, cozy game. And I'd like to think I'm in a better headspace now.
I also attribute Animal Crossing to helping me establish a routine again. Since the games rely on real time passing, it forces me to keep up with my everyday tasks, both in and out of the game (God I sound like I'm pitching some lifestyle product). It's another habit I've tacked on to prevent me from wallowing away with YouTube videos all day. So even though checking 3 separate towns at once in clinically insane, I think it's overall beneficial.
Each game has a unique goal I'm working towards as well. Right now, in the GameCube version, I'm just playing normally; trying to pay off my debt, check the turnip market, get foreign fruit for max profit, the usual. In Wild World, I'm trying to complete an NPC side quest to get a golden axe and pay off my fully upgraded house. In City Folk, I have all of my debt paid off, but I'm throwing my axe every day into the fountain in hopes that Serena will give me the silver axe (30 days in and no luck so far...).
So needless to say, my daily tasks full to the brim. But I'm honestly finding much more joy in doing them rather than getting mad at some random Overwatch sweaty every match. Again, RIP to the rest of my backlog...