Picture this. It's 2020. The world is in a full pandemic lockdown and I'm trying not to spiral about humanity. Oh, and I've also got a newborn baby. But, amongst all the chaos, a glorious game has just been released on the Nintendo Switch – enter Animal Crossing: New Horizons. And while I didn't quite realize it at the time, it was about to truly save me.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a core lockdown and postpartum memory for me. Visiting friends on their islands to socialize (and take advantage of their turnip prices), because visiting them in real-life wasn’t allowed. Talking to my villagers for just an extra desperate ounce of social interaction. Life in the real world was incredibly hard, but the serenity of my island offered an escape I so desperately needed.
