How Animal Crossing players deal with friends and family members who give up

Every time Carter, a long time Cross between animals: New Horizons player, wants to build a bridge on the island he shares with his wife, he is frustrated. The problem is not the lack of bells or Tom Nook’s restrictions. Instead, Carter is faced with a bureaucratic predicament: his wife is considered the owner of the island by the game, and she no longer plays Animal Crossing.

“She was the general visionary at the beginning,” Carter told Polygon on Twitter. Carter took care of the logistics, how to acquire the best villagers, trade turnips and unlock Nook upgrades. Carter’s wife took care of the island’s aesthetics and general layout. But after that honeymoon period, she gave up on the game. Months later, he is still playing, and she is not.

“She insists that I can log into her account and make the necessary changes, but I am reluctant to do that more than absolutely necessary, just because I am a very anxious person by nature,” said Carter.

It turns out that many New Horizons the players are in a similar situation. Animal Crossing allows you to share an island with a handful of people, and each will have their own residence on the island. Except after a year of updates, some friends have abandoned their shared games – leaving some users with a saved file full of reminders and obstacles created by a person who is no longer in the photo.

For many players who are still involved in the game, changing other players is not a problem, as long as they are allowed to switch accounts to build bridges or ramps. Some people even use the added bills to get extra revenue from Celeste or take advantage of the extra storage space in the abandoned houses.

Image: Nintendo EPD / Nintendo

1 New Horizons The fan, Mel, told Polygon that her husband left the game after a single day.

“I was very upset by his tent on my island,” she told Polygon. His tent was erected on her island in July and remained an eyesore on the island for seven months. “I finally deleted his account today and I am very happy about it.”

Others maintain the houses as a kind of sanctuary, an act of love for the people in their lives.

“I have two nephews who have homes on the island, but they haven’t picked up the game in almost a year,” said Ika, a longtime player, in a Twitter conversation with Polygon.

She also collects items from special events for them, such as the mantle of Halloween character Jack and fishing tournament items, although she is aware that they may never return to the game. If they do, they will find that she personalized each villager’s backyard, dedicated to their interests. The youngest nephew has a small gym next to his house, with space on the patio for a dog house and stuffed animals. The eldest has a Zen garden designed in his backyard.

“I still collect DIYs and leave those I already know on one side of the island and, once they get together, I go to their characters’ website and learn some of the DIYs in case they decide to connect again, so they’re more or less updated with the latest DIYs, ”said Ika.

Carter knows the feeling. “Occasionally, I try to attract [my wife] back by making romantic gestures in the game, like leaving rainbow balloons and dinosaur toys outside your home, ”he says. “Which doesn’t make any sense, because she would have to log in before seeing them anyway, but I still do that.”

New Horizons has continued to receive updates in the year since its launch, and future updates are likely to continue throughout 2021. Perhaps these new elements will draw back players who abandoned the game, and they can see the care packages and tokens left by their loved ones. dear ones over the months.