How, just when I needed it most, Animal Crossing delivered me Christmas cheer

Here at SmartRead, we like celebrating life to the fullest, particularly around the holidays. However, not everyone has a joyous and brilliant celebration of the season. For those whose family life are more difficult than others, this may be a very trying time of year, both mentally and physically, since the season is so strongly focused on family relationships.

I'm talking especially about what it's like to be a gay person during Christmas and the winter season. I used to hate the holidays since it meant spending a lot of time with relatives who either didn't know I was gay or wouldn't accept it, even if my own experience has improved with time. So, like a lot of individuals in our time, I turned to video games for comfort.

Animal Crossing will always be my favorite Christmas getaway game, or rather series. For a few years, Wild World only for the DS consumed my life, and to the dismay of my relatives, I was also able to spread the joy to my younger cousins. My parents refer to this period of time as "Animal Crossing this" and "Animal Crossing that," implying that my cousins and I could only discuss it. Well, it makes sense! That game was and still really amazing.

I had a great time working at Wild World. Every Christmas, I would turn on my DS and wish the other villagers a good holiday before continuing with my day. Christmas hadn't begun to bother me too much until I was eight years old, which was when the game was first launched in Europe. My family were making crude or obscene jokes, which I didn't comprehend enough to find them upsetting. I'm happy that I was able to begin this Animal Crossing tradition even during my more innocent Christmases since I knew I would need it when I was a teenager.

I was well into my teenage years, concealing my newly lesbian identity from my family, and fighting for social justice when Animal Crossing New Leaf came out on the Nintendo 3DS. Christmas was a time of great dread for me because I was already the family's black sheep going through my emo phase, I thought everyone was too loud (possibly from my undiagnosed ADHD), I was keeping my growing depression a secret from everyone, and my family only seemed to be able to make jokes that made fun of LGBTQ+, disabled, or people of color.

After finishing my dinner and making enough of the forced holiday small talk, I would retire to the couch or, if I was fortunate, my bedroom to spend time with Isabelle and the other villagers. They always thought well of me and were appreciative of my personality. I was given an area to go called New Leaf that was similar to the actual world but maybe had snowfall and was less chaotic.

Playing Animal Crossing New Leaf online was an extra bonus. I could discover folks on Tumblr whose islands were open to seeing new locations and meeting new people, whether they were village mayors or their villager friends, or I could FaceTime my actual friends and visit their islands. With my furry pals at my side, it was much easier to ignore the offensive comments I didn't have the emotional strength to respond to directly or to brush off charges that I was obsessed with my technology.

During my high school and college years, New Leaf and a few other 3DS games significantly improved my mental and physical health by providing me with constant escapes when I needed them. A lot has happened between my family and myself between then and Animal Crossing New Horizons' eventual 2020 release. I've gained a great deal of self-awareness and confidence, and I can now argue against hate. In addition, a few family members have come to understand and be more supportive of my LGBT identity and my new life away from home.

Not that New Horizons didn't contribute to my ability to remain calm throughout the holiday season. 2020 is a year that everyone recalls—a year marked by lockdowns and, for Switch owners, a new Animal Crossing game. Even though I didn't have a Switch at launch, I was so keen to play that I purchased a copy of the game to use on my roommate's console. When I did ultimately get a Switch of my own, I moved my island over. I needed the game, therefore I'm really happy I have it all to myself by Christmas 2020.

In 2020, I spent Christmas Eve alone for the first time, due to financial difficulties and municipal lockdowns. We lived in a small one-bedroom apartment that was insufficient for our little family, with only my partner and I. We cooked a huge meal, watched movies, and used Zoom to talk to my folks, making the most of our time together. Although pleasant, it still seemed a bit strange.

That's probably the reason 2020 was the first year I deviated from my personal Animal Crossing guideline to never time-skip a year. That year, the UK implemented regulations allowing a social distancing bubble of six individuals to assemble outside for New Year's. We walked out onto the suspension bridge above Salford Quays, where we were living at the time, myself, my boyfriend, and four of our friends, to watch the countdown together and throw sparklers about. Even the snow began to fall! However, upon our return to the apartment, I sensed that something was lacking.

I did the unimaginable when I turned on my Switch: I reset the system clock by one hour. Even though I had enjoyed a socially isolated New Year's, I needed to spend 2021 with the animals who had helped me stay sane throughout many national lockdowns, beginning my first full-time job, and working from home. My approach of expressing "thank you" for everything was to time-hop back and ring in the new year with my people. They should also thank all the villagers who came before them in Wild World and New Leaf, in addition to what they provided me in 2020.

My most difficult winters were navigated by Animal Crossing, and I will always be appreciative of it.

Check out our Animal Crossing history lesson, Animal Crossing: New Horizons fish list, or our list of the top games like Animal Crossing if you want to create your own enduring memories with this brand.