How long does burnout last?

[khagskhap]

Hello, right now I'm currently going through a burnout period in animal crossing. I started playing back in July 2020, and I played everyday up until October 2022. I have barely touched my switch for a month and a half, and I've tried restarting a few times but never had the desire to keep playing. It sucks because I love this game and a part of me wants to keep playing, but literally every time I try to restart my island I just have no energy or desire to keep going and I end up quitting. Am I done with this game for good, or do I just need a long break? I still love the game and I think it is the best game ever when I want to play, but I'm just on the verge of taking a long break. I'm thinking of maybe coming back in the spring, depending on if I still feel like playing, lol. I know I shouldn't force myself but sometimes I find myself doing that just because this game was literally the only thing I enjoyed doing and now I don't know what to do haha. I guess I need a break to find other things that I love doing just as much. Has anyone else gone through the same thing? When did you find yourself coming back to the game?

 

[ivorystar]

Definently me! I started playing in 2020 for 6 month and took like 6month break. Then I started playing for NOV/Dec 2021 and then took another year break. I burn out really easily but i love this game its suppose to be slow. so go ahead and take a break When you come back you'll find new things you want to do

 

[azurill]

I had been playing since release and took a break in January of this year. For me it was a three month break. I just couldn’t find things to do and would turn it off after just 10 minutes of playing. When I came back on I redid my entire island and felt so much better about playing. I recently restarted my second island and having so much fun taking it Slow. The amount of time differs for each person but if you need a break I say take one. When I was on my break I played other games until I wanted to come back to this one.

 

[Flicky]

I think it definitely varies. After a straight year of playing nearly every day, I took a few months off the game. Came back, played for another month, then took another month break. I'm now nearly 100% finished with my island, but I don't have any desire to restart, so I'll probably just keep checking in on my villagers for the sake of it every other week or so, and try to finish the catalog as a side quest.

 

[Croconaw]

It definitely varies. Take a break for as long as you need and come back when you’re ready.

 

[Valzed]

I think it differs for everyone and that's okay. I started feeling burned out at the beginning of the year and took a solid month off where I didn't even do the "daily" stuff. Then I caught COVID and was hospitalized for 3 weeks which forced me to take a longer break. After I got home I was still feeling really unmotivated so I played other games for a bit. I actually turned ACNH back on "just" for one of the events on here and found I was enjoying it again. I'm still going slow though. Some days I just check my mail and get the daily Nook Miles. Other days I feel more invested so I talk to my residents, redecorate for the season/holiday, etc. If you feel like you need a break definitely take one. If the game feels like a "chore" it will be less enjoyable for you. Taking a break doesn't mean you love the game any less. It just means you're showing yourself some love.

 

[Xara]

i feel you. i actually recently just started playing again after taking a year long on and off break from the game. between a lot of stuff going on in my personal life this past year and just overall burnout, i had no motivation or energy to play. like you, i want to play, but even after taking such a big step back from the game, i’m still struggling to get myself to play.

i tried to force myself to play many times (and still do), and i wouldn’t recommend doing that. it’ll just make the burnout worse, and drive you even further away from wanting to play. there’s no saying how long your burnout might last since like @/Valzed said, it differs, but taking a break for however long you need is okay. there’s no obligation to play at all. we all need breaks from things sometimes.

new horizons is a great game, and it’ll be waiting for you whenever you want to play again. that’s one of the beauties about animal crossing — you play on your terms.

 

[Angelbearpuppy]

I have suffered through Burnout for about a year. I dabbled off and on, but nothing stuck. I realized that the island itself had lost its luster. But a friend of mine got anch for Christmas, so we are going to start islands together, but now I am excited to play again.

 

[VanitasFan26]

The game has gotten so boring and stale that I just move on to other games. After 2 long years I've put the game down for good.

 

[Romaki]

My insistence in playing the game comes from my perfectionistic need to make a more perfect island and restarting when I can't get pass one issue. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, at one point it's fine to go.

 

[Violet Witch]

I think it depends on where you burnout stems from, as it's usually different for everyone. For me I haven't played ACNH since the summer as I just found there was nothing in the game that kept me interested anymore. I'd unlocked everything from the 2.0 update, had all the villagers I wanted living on my island and found that HHP had become too repetitive for me.

 

[Wolfie]

I kinda been burnt out for nearly a year. It doesn't help that last month I lost my entire island I spent over a year on. I had no desire to start rebuilding my island until now.

 

[Snek]

It definitely depends. Currently I don't feel burnt out on AC, just preoccupied with other games that released this year. Whenever I get burnt out on a game, I strictly avoid it if I can. I could download NH if I could, but my switch says I need more room and I dont feel like getting more so I'll wait to play NH again when I get burnt out on my current games.

 

[PoppyPumpkin]

I've been burned out for I want to say about a year or so. I've played off and on, of course, but not as steadily as I was. I'm just coming back to the game and decided to kind of more focus on a new island on my switch lite, which of course feels overwhelming because you're starting over again from scratch - which is what I imagine restarting must feel like.
The thing about NH is... it's going to be here when you want to play. AC is not a competitive game - which is what I've had to drill into my head, because thinking that was was actually messing with me a bit. So take a break, play other games, pick AC up when you want to play and just let it become natural again. If you don't feel like playing, don't play. It's okay to take breaks.

 

[Corrie]

It's interesting because I'm burnout and I didn't binge it during the pandemic like a lot of people did. I'm not saying that some people aren't burnt out by doing that but it's interesting that I still am even though I barely played it during lockdown. There's just not a good longevity with this game which is probably why they put so much filler nonsense (long dialogue, breaking tools, etc) to waste player's time, giving them the illusion they're playing a long term game.

It's a real shame. I hope the next game is better than this one.

 

[PoppyPumpkin]

It's interesting because I'm burnout and I didn't binge it during the pandemic like a lot of people did. I'm not saying that some people aren't burnt out by doing that but it's interesting that I still am even though I barely played it during lockdown. There's just not a good longevity with this game which is probably why they put so much filler nonsense (long dialogue, breaking tools, etc) to waste player's time, giving them the illusion they're playing a long term game.

It's a real shame. I hope the next game is better than this one.

Yeah, I don't really think they thought through the whole 'what happens at the end' thing very well. They could have given us mini games to go mess around with like we had in NL, or even one or two additional villager spots since we can rearrange things - would have been nice to have that option.
Personally am hoping that they decide to do at least one more update to bring back perfect fruit x.x

 

[Corrie]

Yeah, I don't really think they thought through the whole 'what happens at the end' thing very well. They could have given us mini games to go mess around with like we had in NL, or even one or two additional villager spots since we can rearrange things - would have been nice to have that option.
Personally am hoping that they decide to do at least one more update to bring back perfect fruit x.x

I don't get why they didn't take the base of New Leaf (items, clothing, perfect fruit, etc) and expanded upon it. They removed it all and just created new stuff. Some of the new stuff is really great, don't get me wrong, it's just strange why there's so much missing. I do have to give them credit for not being scummy and making the missing content paid DLC. Even they knew the game was a rushed unfinished beta upon release.
Your island just feels like a weird fake simulation. You decorate it and that's it. You don't really live there, you know? Nothing feels full of life so the reason why I have trouble playing is because what's the point in decorating the island? To just look at it and that's it? I'd love to finish my island but there's little motivation to do so. I turn on the game, look at my town and just go "eh" and turn it off to play something else.

 

[PoppyPumpkin]

I don't get why they didn't take the base of New Leaf (items, clothing, perfect fruit, etc) and expanded upon it. They removed it all and just created new stuff. Some of the new stuff is really great, don't get me wrong, it's just strange why there's so much missing. I do have to give them credit for not being scummy and making the missing content paid DLC. Even they knew the game was a rushed unfinished beta upon release.
Your island just feels like a weird fake simulation. You decorate it and that's it. You don't really live there, you know? Nothing feels full of life so the reason why I have trouble playing is because what's the point in decorating the island? To just look at it and that's it? I'd love to finish my island but there's little motivation to do so. I turn on the game, look at my town and just go "eh" and turn it off to play something else.

"a weird fake simulation" you know it's weird, because I always had a feeling and didn't know how to put into words how I felt but that's actually perfect. Don't get me wrong, I love my ACNH games, but it lacks a certain vibe/feeling that past games had.
I still have to finish my museum on my main game, but that's still not a 'oooh lemme jump on and play!' type of thing.
I miss the villager interactions/the many things they'd ask you to do, where as in NH it feels like mainly they just ask you to deliver things. I think nintendo tried to make it a bit better by allowing them to come into your house, but yeah, doesn't hit the mark as much as I had hoped.

 

[Corrie]

"a weird fake simulation" you know it's weird, because I always had a feeling and didn't know how to put into words how I felt but that's actually perfect. Don't get me wrong, I love my ACNH games, but it lacks a certain vibe/feeling that past games had.
I still have to finish my museum on my main game, but that's still not a 'oooh lemme jump on and play!' type of thing.
I miss the villager interactions/the many things they'd ask you to do, where as in NH it feels like mainly they just ask you to deliver things. I think nintendo tried to make it a bit better by allowing them to come into your house, but yeah, doesn't hit the mark as much as I had hoped.

It's the game that's given us the most control, but yet, feels empty. Is this how it feels to finally be rich? lol. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like it's one of those towns in movies where everyone is happy and everything is over cheery. The townsfolk feel like robots and the bonds you build with them feel fake.