The Best Distraction For Now
The day before I traveled home, a new video game came out that has been an enormous help to me - Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The basic point of the game is to create a little town (or, in this case, island) and just live in it. That’s literally all - there’s no way to objectively “win” whether you play by yourself or with friends. The only point is to live a calm, peaceful life.
On the surface, it might seem like a very boring game. There aren’t quests to do, unless you count the little maintenance tasks you can do around the island every day. There aren’t clear benchmarks that tell you how far you are in the plot. And, unlike many games, you can’t just play through the whole thing in one sitting - the game works in real time, so every holiday, birthday, and regular day is special.
I was a little ambivalent about buying this game, especially since it was my last outing in Chicago. I didn’t know if it would be the caliber of entertainment I would need to distract me through everything that was bound to happen ahead. I didn’t know if I would like it, or if it would be too simple or boring or any of a dozen other things that would mean it’s not worth my money. But I knew this game had a huge social component (which is why I didn’t like the one I played years ago, as I had no one to play it with), and I knew several of my friends who had it already and said it was wonderful.
Ultimately, I was starting to get scared I wouldn’t have enough distractions regardless of their quality, so I bought the game and took it with me on the long drive home. Finally settled in, I started to play.
I sank into the game as quickly as I fell in love with my all-time favorite games. New Horizons isn’t like any of those games in that it doesn’t have a complex plot, characters with deep, intriguing backstories, or a villain to defeat and a chance to play the hero. Instead, it offered me something I love in video games but don’t usually seek out: a refuge.
On the little island I named Keene thanks to its native fruit, peaches (it’s peachy Keene!), I live with ten adorable animals, all of whom like me, and together we decorate the island with hundreds of flowers, winding paths around waterfalls, and shops filled with beautiful clothes I can combine into countless cosplay-like outfits.
On my island, coronavirus doesn’t exist. Sure, there are masks in-game, but I haven’t worn them. There are no news outlets that I flip past because they fill me with dread. There are no conversations about much more than the day’s progress, the weather, and upcoming holidays. There are a thousand little tasks to do to the point that I can fill a whole day in the real world playing on my virtual island, growing fruit trees and decorating my house, fishing and planting and shopping.
When I’m looking for a distraction, I usually seek games with hundreds of quests, something new to find in every corner, and stories I can sink my teeth into. But I’m discovering that at a time like this, the distraction I seek is not something where I have to overthink, where all my choices have consequences and everything is angsty.
My perfect distraction for now is something that lets me take a break from thinking, that helps me connect to my friends (we visit each others’ islands frequently over online play) at a time when many people are feeling lonely, and offers me a sandbox for my ideas where anything can work - plus with gorgeous graphics.
I wouldn’t usually seek out something like New Horizons as a distraction, but now that things are changing so fast in the real world, it’s wonderful to have a safe haven where everything is right and the world works in a familiar way. I know many of my friends are seeking distractions like this in hobbies that appeal to them - they’re learning to crochet, joining online book clubs, and finding ways to engage the brain in a more pleasant way than constant worry about the future. I hope all of you find your own distractions for this time, even if they’re not your usual distractions, and they help us make it through safe in body and mind!
Ellie, a writer new to the Chicago area, was diagnosed with OCD at age 3. She hopes to educate others about her condition and end the stigma against mental illness.