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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is currently the most important thing going on in my life. Okay, maybe not the most important, but it is often at the forefront of my mind and my list of daily activities. Having been essentially homebound for the past 11 weeks, it’s helped to alleviate boredom, stave off cabin fever, and give the kids and me a fun, safe, low-impact way of interacting with the outside world.
How much time I’ll continue spending on my own private island after this weekend’s release of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition remains to be seen, but it’s impossible to deny the impact New Horizons has had on popular culture—not to mention the effect the current global health crisis has had on the widening Animal Crossing fandom.
If you’re in the market for some more Animal Crossing-centric entertainment, Nintendo of America’s Play Nintendo hub has just rolled out a bumper crop of free digital activities for all ages.
There are jigsaw puzzles and paint-by-number activities for your youngest gamers and fun memory matching games ideal for parent-child play. Play Nintendo even added some Animal Crossing backgrounds, perfect for switching up the wallpaper on your work-from-home laptop or adding a little levity to your next Zoom meeting.
Play Nintendo has lots more to offer—from personality quizzes to polls to printables—to help you and yours relax and unwind after a hard day at home. Even if New Horizons isn’t your thing, there’s tons of free, family-friendly content from all your Nintendo favorites, and it’s just a click away.
In its first three years of life, the Nintendo Switch has successfully built up a library of great games and convinced folks that a console/handheld hybrid is something they need in their gaming lives. But 2020 will be the system’s biggest challenge yet, as rivals Sony and Microsoft are both launching their powerful next-gen consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, at the end of this year.