10 Life Lessons From Animal Crossing: New Horizons Neighbors

I’m a hardcore Animal Crossing fan. I’ve played every iteration of Animal Crossing since I was introduced to the series sometime around 2005.

I have a special place in my heart for Animal Crossing because, when my husband and I first started dating, we used to play together. We’d visit each other’s towns and help each other shake trees for fruit or go fishing together. I remember that fondly, and Animal Crossing brings all the warm fuzzies.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) is the first one I played with the rest of the world, though, because I never had online friends to play with or trade with. Instead of trading fruit with IRL friends, I’d diligently send letters with fruit to my NPC neighbors, hoping they’d send some other kind of fruit back to me. With a lot of patience, I always ended up with the complete collection.

When ACNH was released in 2020, it was exactly what everyone needed at the beginning of a global pandemic. I played hard, clocking hundreds of hours in that first year, not including the time I spent searching for custom designs. Eventually, my interest waned, and I stopped playing except to check in on my villagers every now and then, making sure no one moved out.

The big update that released mid-March 2021 got me back in, and I excitedly tried out all the fun new features. I also built a memorial on my island for my father, who passed unexpectedly less than 2 weeks after the update.