who’s your favorite villager?

i dont think we talk enough about how helpful animal crossing can be for mental health

I was playing ACNH with a group of friends not too long ago as a part of celebrating one’s bday. We went to her island and eventually to her house, where there was a big table with food and cake, balloons and a birthday banner. We all sat down and did some cute ass emotes, and I kid you not, I bawled my eyes out and started hysterically crying. It was the cutest thing I ever saw. (It probably didn’t help that I had a spiral of emotions as well at the time).

Animal Crossing is such a peaceful game. Its perfect for a night after a rough day.

And for those of us who can't afford a switch: Play Stardew Valley!

Wouldn't mind seeing more Karsten gaming related content.

animal crossing is where i go when I need a break from reality when things get overwhelming like for anyone who plays. I've played the game since 2013 on my ds and will forever treasure the franchise. i hope the creators know how much joy these little pixelated characters have brought me. there is so much nostalgia and warmth present. amazing video.

Starting in the middle quarantine I was in a terrible Funk. I was conviced I'd lost the ability to finish a task that wasn't immediately rewarding. That "Bad student" and "never finishes work" were staples of my identity now. Animal Crossing Pocket Camp helped me prove that I COULD see a project to the end. It's helping me fix the "investment vs reward" system in my brain.

When I got the first anniversary cake, I cried

"The concept of doing nothing felt so acceptable... for about a year. Anytime you told someone, 'I don't know what I'm doing with my life and I'm not doing anything about it,' it was most of the time met with, 'Well, given the circumstances, that's fine.' Which it was and still is. And with things a year later starting to shift back into the life we used to live it feels like doing nothing is being reassessed and as though this year-long break doesn't have an excuse to exist anymore. It's bittersweet. Like when you're descending on a flight and watching your destination above you - excited to finally experience it all - but bummed that this period of time where you were allowed and forced to do nothing is coming to a close." ... this affected me so much because it took the truth right out of my heart. I actually had to type it out in order to fully process it. In a non-pandemic world, I need to enforce & defend my own boundaries in order to live a life that makes me happy (where I reject needing to be constantly busy/social in order to be considered valid, but when I retreat from that, I deal with the stress of being seen as lazy or the fear of missing out if I take time to pause on social outings/activities). I hate that it took an international pandemic that stole so many lives and made so many people suffer in order for a shutdown to occur in which I got so much relief from the ever-present capitalistic push to run myself ragged. This doesn't have to resonate for other people. And it's all valid - ALL the experiences & feelings people have about how their lives have been affected over the last year and a half. But I haven't heard anyone express my feelings as eloquently as you did in this video. Thank you. I'm keeping this quote in a note on my phone. I guess the part I most need to hold onto is, "Which it was and still is."

I bought the game for my kids when it came out. Yesterday I got my "300 days on the island award". The kids barely play amymore, but I sure love my peaceful island. ❤️

I think you put it very well, especially the part about there being no point in time traveling and rushing to finish the game. So many people I know got the game and their only objective was to make millions of bells by exploiting the stalk market, and they haven't played the game in a year.

I wasn't expecting this type of video from you, but I'm not complaining. Please do more videos like this.

At this point, I’ve been playing animal crossing after finishing online classes, it just gives so much peacefulness

I played 200 hours between march and summer and I hold that time so close to my heart. All my friends played it as well and we took pictures together by all the pretty little spots we each had made on our islands. Even given the pandemic and all, it was a time I will forever cherish.

Karsten you should play A Short Hike. Its like if Zelda Breath of the wild and animal crossing had a baby

When my birthday came last October and saw my villagers excited to celebrate with me, and when I read those messages they wrote for me during the birthday concert, I cried. It meant so much to me.

tell me why this made me cry...

I don’t have a switch but I recently celebrated my one year anniversary on Pocket Camp (the mobile game) and even though there may be fewer things to do, I am still so in love with it

I was SO happy when I played on my birthday and there was a party - it felt like I’d kind of warned it by being there regularly. Plus obvs I didn’t do a lot in real life because of covid so it was more special for that

This.... this hit me, man. Amazing, really.

i love this reflection on animal crossing! i’ve been a fan of the series for years and it’s interesting how new and old fans interpret their experiences. this video made me feel nostalgic on those not-so-great times of march 2020 🥺

Okay but I’m getting new horizons today, what is the coincidence, how did you know Karsten.

I’ve been playing animal crossing since the GameCube version, and new horizons was much anticipated by my fiancé and I. Well we happen to live in different households, so when lock down started last march we had to stay separated. This caused a lot of extra anxiety for me, but having animal crossing at that time helped immensely. Each morning we would wake up, call each other, and just play the game while chatting for hours. It helped me stay connected with him and immersed in a happy world while the world outside was chaotic. I haven’t been playing so much lately, but I owe a lot to this game. ❤️

i started playing animal crossing in 2013, still holds a special place in my hearttt x) i still play it on my nintendo 3ds lmfao... nostalgia...

I love how self paced it is and slow. When my life is really hectic and crazy it’s so nice to slow down on AC and just worry about fruit and flowers

Wow did not expect to be tearing up on a Friday morning, this vid just spoke to me 🥺

I've been playing animal crossing since before I even knew how to read (yes, the gamecube game was VERY confusing but I still had fun with it as a kid). I've played every single mainline game as they were released, I'm a lifelong fan. As someone super intrenched in the fandom, people (including me) have a lot of criticisms of new horizons, such as the focus on updates adding content that was previously available at launch, and the comparatively lackluster villager interactions. That being said, I still cried like a baby when K.K. sang me happy birthday and all those letters from my villagers popped up on the screen. There's a magic at the core of animal crossing that cannot be easily replicated or replaced, that connection between you and this virtual community the game gives you, and it was exactly what 2020 needed.

I got this for my birthday April last year, and initially thought it was 'just a kids game' and didn’t have high hopes for it, but animal crossing has saved my mental health during lockdown. I was made redundant, so I’ve had loads of time to play it. I love what I’ve created on my island and how I decorated my house. It might have no value in the real world, but it made me feel like I’ve achieved something and the daily tasks give me some routine while I find a job. The gentle pace relaxes me, and when my anxiety is high it gives me something to focus on and keeps my mind occupied. I suffered depression early last year, and I’ve felt it creeping back in now and then, and the game is what’s kept me going when I’ve been not been motivated to do anything. Today my anxiety has been pretty bad, and I’ve spent the past few hours waiting for balloons on the beach to get the cherry blossom recipes or wandering around catching blossom petals. That might sound dull to most people, but the sound of the waves on the shore and wandering around my island takes me out of my situation and to somewhere else and gives my brain a rest for a while.

The reason people love Animal Crossing is why I love a game like Minecraft so much. Both are truly great games I love to play and enjoy. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back, put on some good tunes, and just go about your business on your island in Animal Crossing, or build some things/explore the world in Minecraft. Been playing Minecraft for about 10 years now. Been playing Animal Crossing off and on for a year. Nothing quite like them.

Animal Crossing and Minecraft are the only two games where you can do whatever you want. No obstacles or challenges. You can make challenges and obstacles if you want, but you can do whatever you want. That's why Minecraft is my favorite game of all time. I just got the gist of animal crossing, never played it.

Animal Crossing the pinncale of gaming about catching a vary of animals & objects thay can help you success in the world of a town that has a Island,and it's beautiful.

Bruh, that was the thin thread that kept me tethered to reality because I had my first kid literally days before release on top of The Rona.

it’s sad, i can’t play this game anymore bc my brain has turned it into a competition, and seeing someone’s island looking better than mine makes me log off the game and never log back in, much like you mentioned near the beginning, i have yet to be able to get back into it!

This is exactly how I feel about Stardew Valley.

I'm so, SO happy somebody talked about just how AC isn't about a goal but is mostly based on routine. I've said this since NH came out, because with the new installation and the enormous fame many people just started complaining a lot about technicalities: "why isn't this or that in the game, It's getting boring", etc. As an old fan, it's kind of tiring, because doing every single thing perfectly and getting every object and waiting for new things added in the game isn't the point. Of course it's amazing when that happens, but this game is about enjoying routine, going slow, doing nothing and chilling out.

your comparison between animal crossing and paterson is so good. i love both of them for the same reason. there really is beauty to be found in the mundane things we could do before the pandemic.

A few days ago i heard the closing theme song in Nooks Cranny and i sat and listened to it a legit 4 times or so in a row.

I re-watched Patterson last year and it felt so different and I loved in a whole new way. Highly recommend it to anyone whether they've seen it before or not!

You really captured the heart of the game for many people, thanks!

I read an article the other day about how games can help with mourning. They talked about not being able to be there when someone was buried and how games help with comunity. There was an example of an island in animal crossing that they used to do a virtual ceremony and burial site.

my goodness, this is so tremendously beautiful. Thank you for verbalizing what many of us have been feeling.

i’m literally obsessed w animal crossing and i see this from one of my fav channels

I don't know why I started crying as soon as kk slider started playing..

i think this is why i like animal crossing. there is no end goal. you can just vibe forever and still have fun. they give you tasks, you can go to islands, you can get side quest, you can do seasonal celebrations, whatever. its the freedom to be whatever you make it.

1 year ago, my friends prepared a birthday surprise for me. I wasn't expecting how far they would go though, as they dedicate a whole area for me and it made me really emotional. 1 year passed, and I still think that that's when the game peaked for me. My b-day this year was a couple months ago and I didn't celebrate with any friends because of a falling out, but I will forever be thankful for what they did for me then. I hope I can someday patch things up with them. 💖

Yesss no comparing islands! Every island is right how it is. We don't all need aesthetic themed islands.

i started to do more in my animal crossing on my nintendo ds i had since i was like 10/11? it is very calming. i get lost in it. and even tho i had this game for 11 years it is still surpising me sometimes. i put time into tasks i never did when i was younger. keeping the city clean, planting flowers, watering them everyday, caring for my house, etc. it really helped me to also realize that i now find so much joy in the little tasks in life. the not so exciting ones and that is for me very important bc when i am again overcoming depressive episodes i know that even if everything seems quite bad, i can still find joy in little things, doesnt have to be golden lucky moments but just little sparks. also it is incredibley calming, the music, the villagers that still grow on me even tho some of them r ugly, the cicadas in the summer, the ocean waves. takes my mind of everything awful. esp on tik tok i seem to be angry everytime i am on it. so i just play animal crossing before bed so i am not angry or sad.

This brought me back to when I used to play Animal Crossing on 2008-2010 in my Nintendo DS. Great and sensible video!

I think your explanation about 2020 being a year of rest without judgement..is why I strangely feel nostalgic for this game's original town music, the one you're stuck with for two weeks or so until your town hall is built. I hated that music eventually because it was so repetitive, but now I kinda miss it. I started playing this game at the peak of quarantine here in Australia, I could finally do nothing and not feel bad about it. I've been unemployed for a while due to many reasons, and 2020 was the first time where I could relax about that. Now things are going back to normal, and the stress has come back.

the amount of how much i relate to you is crazy i got into it again like a month ago, and somehow its SOOO much easier to play nowadays, people literally speedruned it at the start, now i can log on with no pressure for some reason

I finally got a switch last week and my first game was acnh. It’s so cute:)

this made me cry so hard. definitely subscribing now bc u literally put into words what i couldn’t? i’ve only time traveled three times when i got the game in december. this is my first animal crossing game as well since my parents didn’t rly think this game was worth to buy. i’ve time traveled to november to get mushrooms bc i have a mushroom themed island, and the other two times so that i could buy stuff from my nooks and able sisters. i’ve always felt extremely guilty afterwards and didn’t know why, but now i can kinda get an idea. i could’ve spent those days talking to my villagers, and just interacting with npcs and doing my daily tasks even though it was tedious, it was me spending time and interacting on my island that i created and put work into which felt important in some way. glad that i bought the game bc acnh is now something that brings me comfort and it really is so beautiful :’]

What a beautiful video Karsten!

This is how I felt when playing Fantasy life!! It’s a lifesim, rpg fantasy game that I feel has similar elements to animal crossing (I.E building your avatar and dream life, befriending the other characters, etc) Yes, the main story led up to something, but what really brought me joy was the side stories; learning new skills and just indulging in a game which brings such escapism

I just opened up my island again a few weeks ago, and I have definitely refallen in love with this game for all the reasons you highlighted. It truly is a beautiful game and I love all my villagers and if anyone comes for them I will hurt you.

My fiancé and I have been separated due to international travel restrictions for over a year now. We miss each other a lot and it's really affected us during the pandemic. I finally bought a Switch last month and we both got Animal Crossing and it's helped us a lot - there's so much more to do than is available with a simple video call. We get to feel like we're watching each other move and we get to show off things we create to each other. I can't touch him in real life, but we can bump into and hit each other with nets in ACNH; we can't go on dates, but we can create romantic picnics on our islands and sit at them and look at stars; we can't go on vacations, but we can swim together. I'm very thankful that this game exists, and thank you for making this video to explain why this game is so good.

How do you manage to make everything philosophical? Answer: because it is. Or is it? I don’t know maybe we should think about it.

ive heard a lot of people saying that the previous games had more soul, were more fleshes out etc. while i would love for there to be a few more things to do, explore, or maybe have a few more talking points with my villagers i still love the game for what it is. Every day i check in on my villagers and say hello to the able sisters at the very least, and i appreciate the simplicity of crafting your island to be a pretty and cute place and the repetitive tasks. i would for sure welcome some updates that would maybe make the game resemble the previous versions more, but i like it just the way it is too.

what an amazing video. spoke to me on different levels. thank you so very much for making this video.

i have chronic illnesses and i personally think it helps me appreciate this game even more. i like doing the mundane in this game because i can’t do the mundane in my everyday real life without at least some struggle. it’s escapism from my literal physical being. i can do anything i need/want to in animal crossing with no limitations, i can’t say the same for real life sometimes. this game helped me in so many ways

Paterson is honestly one of the most comforting films I've ever seen.

Man I just restarted this game and it's been a lot of fun going at it slower than I did the first time. Nice timing on this video lol

great video man, it was a delight to watch

Idk why but watching a new game related video from you feels.. nostalgic.

That segue to the ending and sponsor was amazing 🤌🤌

Thank you for talking about it in that way, I’ve had NH on hold for months bc of responsibilities and bc I got kinda of a worn out bc i started to get obsessive over getting things in order, also my friend complained about it a lot bc it wasn’t their cup of tea and it kinda got in my head haha. But fr thanks to your video I feel like playing again !!!

this is why i played so much animal crossing when i was first out of high school (this was new leaf at the time, not new horizons), and this is also why i disconnected from the community this time around haha, because people were speeding through it and i felt like i had to try and keep up and i burnt myself out. ive been playing sporatically and enjoying my time so much more now that i dont feel like i have to keep up with all my friends and the millions of other people playing and posting about their beautiful towns 24/7. i'm not as into it as i hoped i would be - a lot of my favourite aspects of new leaf are still missing from new horizons, but the game itself is slowly becoming more relaxing to me again, like how it was the last time around. (i also don't play with time travel, if i can, unless i can only play at night when everything is closed! that might influence the enjoyment for me as well)

I really love this video. I some times feel like like I’m bad a the game because My island pales in comparison with everyone else I have seen , so this helps thanks.

this video made me so happy, thank you! :)

for me now, animal crossing is about design and collection. it used to be about doing the mundane and daily tasks because i grew up with new leaf where design was much more limited, but i always saw hacked towns and i always wanted mine to be like that. when i got new horizons, i refused to time travel initially, because i assumed the core part of the game for me was going to be what it was for new leaf. i realised tho that new horizons is very different from new leaf, and it had so many more design opportunities. i time travel because it elevates my enjoyment with the game, but i feel like if designing is not the most important part of the game for you, you absolutely shouldnt be doing it or else ur going to lose your love very quickly (as many people have).

Time travel came in handy for me after I hadn’t played the game a single time for about 5 months after 7 consecutive months of not missing a single day. I forgot to log in for a few days and for some reason my brain thought that was the worst thing ever and I could barley even look at my switch after that.... finally just turned back time and experienced Halloween for my first time in April lol

This video was very relaxing and done👍🏽

i love this game so much. i bought it last may and played all summer, then i stopped for a while thinking that i grew tired of it, but recently i've been so inspired to make my island look presentable so i've been playing it again. it's a little stressful bcoz i don't time travel, so i have to wait everyday for things to get built and for stuff to get moved around, but it's all worth it. it's just such a feel good time and i love the atmosphere of it all :)

Lol ADHD says no to not time skipping. I love the calm aspect of it all, but I HAVE to be working on something in Animal Crossing to want to play. Which is why I took my previously pretty simple forest town and am flipping it into a mountain town with too many waterfalls and a cult. I can go hard on teraforming, adding so many lakes and waterfalls and small hills and mountains and my hidden cult area that is a fully teraformed platform, surrounded by sunken waterfalls, with a 25 tile demon circle and thin land bridges branching to two ledges. I got to a point I was happy, then got too bored and had to flip it and go harder. I wish I could play and indulge in the simplicity, just chill out and exist in this cute little world... But I can only do that if I've had a few bowls of not-cereal, or else my brain just goes crazy looking for stimulation.

havent played in months because of burnout. but as a someone who also graduated last spring etc etc, i really needed this.

It’s confirmed, Karsten dosent make videos about movies anymore

LOOOOVED THIS!! i grew up w this game and you summed it up so well

How do you create these video analysis(?)? It would be amazing to see how you process things, your thought process and how it leads to these video outcomes :)

Until I started playing this game I had no idea that Bubblegum K.K. was missing from my life

Marshal or Coco!! Loved seeing you talk about ACNH. It’s been a huge part of my 2020.

I got back into playing animal crossing last night! such nice timing

Do an island tour next lol

I played then got annoyed because everyone else had cute islands and mine looked like a literal junk yard 😭 I might give it another try lol

One of the best decisions I made the whole pandemic was deleting my old island (with easily over 200 hours into it) after months of progress and starting over on a new island with my wife who had never played an AC game. We're still working on our island and have a long ways to go, but it's been a very fruitful experience that we both enjoy to no end (we even share in the joys and frustrations of the stalk market). You definitely have a gift when it comes to writing what you feel, and for Animal Crossing, your words resonate with me in such a way I feel that I could have written them myself. :)

Best duo on KZfaq Karsten & square space

This game helped me bond with my sister and enjoy myself through 2020. Near the beginning of 2021 I've stopped playing it, cuz it was so addicting.

An amazing analysis, thank you!

This was the most soothing video i have ever watched

Before the game came out, my friends hyped the series and I never understood the appeal. So I got it day 1 release, and was instantly hooked. For that quarantine time my life was paying off my loans to a damn raccoon. I love seeing the creativity some people have making themed islands making Disneyland or jungles or neon japanese city's.

you truly captured what i love about the game. I was super late to the hype. Didn't get it until December but I play it every day. No game has ever truly captured my attention before.

Most games: we're going to make the most expensive graphics and make complicated stories and characters! Animal crossing: Hey, look at this cute singing dog.

Also I realized how Animal Crossing is meant to be played in a slow pace I used to do time traveling and all that just to catch up with others, but that got me to easily get bored with the game And that made me think.. "Wait...maybe this game is not supposed to be played like this" because I got bored just in a week playing? And that just felt wrong But even at that time I knew this game was not meant to be played in a fast pace, I still did time traveling. And I think this comes from people's desire to get things done quickly. Which is also like a real life, but since I'm playing a game like in a real life, that made me easily stressed, catching up others, and easily get bored. So I decided to just..sit back and let the game to be more of an..actual escape, and not a task. The game should be an escape, not a task, which Animal Crossing really makes you think it's a task or easily turns into a task, but really it isn't They never told you to play fast, they never told you to play it slow, you make your own decisions which is why I think that made me think even more about my decisions a lot. And this comes down to me trying to fix that problem Which is to play it slow. And I think I realized what it means to be truely relaxed through this game. I thought getting a task done in the game is the true relaxation, but that was more of a satisfaction, not relaxing if you know what I mean.

"Once again, this isn't me talking shit to those who time travel..."-Karsten 2021. Is such an amazing quote.

I used to do he same as a kid on my ds, just listen to KK. Condor again and again with my little 300 bell coffee in the museum ☺️

loved this video thank you

I’ve also got Celia in the starter house instead of her real house. Anyway, this was outstanding 👏

I have never played Animal Crossing, but Karsten I still think that this is one of your most interesting videos. Thank you!

I've never seen a youtuber as genuine as you, Karsten. Glad to hear your reflections on the game :)

this is very nice karsten, thank you