Six years ago, Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a global sanctuary amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, offering players a safe, predictable escape from uncertainty and a means to stay connected to loved ones. In the years since, it's become something even more profound: a place to memorialize, and even visit, loved ones who've passed on.
Last November, I lost someone very close to me. I had never suffered such a significant loss before, and so naturally I did what anyone experiencing capital-G Grief for the first time does: I shut down. I stopped exercising, stopped trying to quit bad habits, and cut off most communication with the outside world. I lived in my bed, limping downstairs to feed the cats twice a day. Primordial comforts; eating, sleeping, doomscrolling; were the only activities I had the strength for.
