A fully grown town tree in Animal Crossing: New Leaf is an indication of more than 500 hours of gameplay and 500 days since the player started the game. My town recently reached this milestone, so I thought I should write a little bit about this game and what it has done for me in the past 500 days.
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| Fuuto's Dream Address is 5400-5675-9706. |
One obviously cannot play the game without a 3DS. I never thought I would ever own one, but I am blessed with wonderful friends who, despite my being unworthy of such kindness, continue to stand by me and occasionally spoil me with things I most definitely do not deserve.
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| They didn't tell me what they were sending me and it would have continued to be a surprise until I got home and actually opened the box....... if the local postal service wasn't so awful. |
Unfortunately, playing together wasn't as easy as it is in theory so instead I made it a goal to take care of my town in a way that would make them proud. It was the least I could do, right?
Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a strange game. Aside from a set of achievements rewarded with badges (which you're not even obligated to collect), there's no actual goal to it. There are no winners or losers, no competition or game overs. It is a game with nothing to do, and players generally find it difficult to explain what they find so appealing about it.
If there's nothing to do in this game, then what do people fill more than 500 hours of gameplay with? In my case, time is spent mostly on redecorating my town over and over again. This involves breeding more hybrids, replanting bushes and trees, and redoing paths. By the time I'm done with the current round of redecoration, either I've gotten tired of what it looks like or I stumble upon inspiration from other towns so I end up redecorating my town again!
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| These days I haven't been spending a lot of time in my town, but I do my best to visit everyday. |
It's not just the town itself that you get to decorate however you want. The customization options for the houses and the furniture and other items you put in it is almost endless that it took me many remodelings before finally settling on a theme for one of the three character houses in my town.
For some, the trading and collecting of different items may be the draw of Animal Crossing. Or maybe they enjoy playing the island mini games with friends or strangers. There are those who can spend hours aimlessly walking around in-game just to listen to the hourly music and I've also seen some players get very attached to their animal villagers.
Most importantly, Animal Crossing is an escape, which is one of the things that makes a game great. People don't usually play video games to do what they normally do in real life anyway. They play games to solve mysteries and puzzles, to drive cute little cars and race with friends, to.... go world hopping, collect pins and save the world while in a bikini, I suppose. Anyway, whatever reason people have for playing a game, it's definitely a way to escape reality for a while and live a fantasy life as a better, more awesome version of themselves.
In Animal Crossing, you are a mayor of your own town. You have a loyal secretary and all of your villagers adore you. You can dress up however you want, change your hairstyle and the color of your eyes, decorate your houses just the way you like it, and earn more money in fake currency than you'll probably ever have in your real life bank account. Some people like pretending to be gangsters, shooting people and stealing cars. I just happen to prefer having cute animal neighbours love me.
Many people call Animal Crossing a kid's game. Sure, it is, but adults are just big kids anyway so that shouldn't be a reason to stop anyone from playing it. While the game is far from perfect, it's something that players of all ages can potentially enjoy.
After all, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has spent 500 hours pretending to be mayor of a little pixel town.
After all, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has spent 500 hours pretending to be mayor of a little pixel town.
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