An animal crossing rut

[sofieceliza]

Does anyone else ever get into a rut with playing?

I go through phases where I'm addicted to the game, I'm playing every day and I can't put it down... but at some point I'll get bored and not go on it for days and then when I do go on it, I'm spending about 10 minutes before I get bored :/
Last month I was a bit obsessed and I made loads of progress on my town! I planted millions of flowers and now I'm in a rut again and all my flowers are dead

How do you deal with a lack of animal crossing motivation?

 

[Hsn97]

I go through fazes of this too and it’s the main reason my town is still not finished. I just try to find some new inspiration. Like I plan on what I want to do with my town and try to work towards it. But it can be very difficult. When I’m really struggling I try to play the game whilst I do something else like listening to music of the tv. I find this helps take my attention off the game so I end up playing it a bit longer because I don’t find myself getting as bored with it.

 

[Snowesque]

Space yourself out, I only play when I want to. Eventually, I get tired of it then take a break.
I'll just get back into it later then. If I don't stick to a schedule of forcing myself to play, then I always come back to it.

 

[LambdaDelta]

now I'm in a rut again and all my flowers are dead

beautiful town ordinance exists, you know

How do you deal with a lack of animal crossing motivation?

by doing other things

haven't even touched my main town since close to 4 months now, because I've no mood or desire to do anything in it atm


when I feel like doing things in the game, I will. when I don't, I won't. simple as that

 

[RedTropicalPeachyFish]

I haven't gotten into rut yet... I've been playing everyday since 2013, and haven't lost motivation yet. I think one reason is because my day tends to be busy with real life chores/study. When I get to play, I most likely, end up passing out on my town, waking up to see the black screen that died. (-_-; So, when I can play it, it's precious happy time for me. I think that's one reason.

 

[Saga]

I've been in a rut this week, too for some reason. I think that part of it is that I get bored with my daily routine (shopping on main street, digging fossils, watering flowers, greeting villagers, working at the Roost) because there isn't much novelty on a day-to-day basis besides getting a few new clothing/furniture items.

I've recently been shaking things up by spending a LOT of time designing the perfect patterns to make new kinds of paths, stepping stones, a zen rock garden, and clothing to display at the Able Sisters of various yuru chara from my prefecture in Japan that my town is named for. I find designing patterns much more rewarding than the daily grind, and it gives me a real sense of accomplishment since now all of my paths and clothes are made by me and not from QR codes.

Next I'm going to take my main path and make a version of it for all four seasons. So with drifts of cherry blossoms in the spring, moss in summer, autumn leaves in fall, and snow in winter. So far I only have the spring one done, so that's going to take a lot of time!

I've also stopped grinding for bells by going to the island unless I'm actually in the mood for it. Forcing myself to do that every evening was really wearing me out, and even though I recently restarted my town and I really DO need the bells, I figure it's better to take things slowly both for my sanity and because it'll make the game last longer anyways! Instead, I've been spending more time rearranging my rooms; I've come up with some really nice set-ups!

 

[Ghoste]

I'm in the same boat as you are. I played all last week and made a lot of progress, but now I need a break haha. For real though, the beautiful town ordinance will be your best friend. Only thing that infuriates me is that I'll come back and have a million new common flowers that I don't need and they're a hassle to get rid of :'( I think taking breaks is just inevitable though and will help you to not feel so forced/bored. No shame in not playing 24/7!

 

[Suicune]

I go through phases of being really into the game and phases of not playing for months at a time. It really depends. I've been working on filling out my catalog and keeping a spreadsheet of every single item that ends up in my inventory, but I've found that if I do that too intensely for too long, I start to burn out and end up putting the game down for a few weeks. It's hard to find that balance of genuinely enjoying the game and making progress because sometimes I get too caught up in fulfilling objectives and collecting badges or whatever.

 

[AidenTheGamer]

The past few months, I've been making and re-creating towns at dates much earlier than real-time, for progress purposes (usually even before Nookling Junction even upgrades) because I want to play because I like the game, but then, something feels wrong. I have 5 copies, and I'm always getting so bored of the game, even after the first steps...

 

[MasterM64]

I personally have been playing since 2013 with the same town) and I haven't gotten into a rut per say (even after 1500+ hours of gameplay). The reason why I went on a 3-year hiatus is that various aspects of life changed (like having to work to meet financial obligations) and required me to focus on them instead of Animal Crossing. Other than that, I am back years later and man do I love this game and meeting up with people who love the game as well!

 

[Bluebellie]

It happens. When I finished my town I sort of got tired of it. Recently I decided to restart a new town and redo my old one and I?m back at a place where I want to play the game again. Before restarting I kind of didn?t want to play.

 

[AlyssaAC]

I have, but that's mainly because the game as been out for over three years now. I did have an urge to play a few weeks ago and I just couldn't put it down, but to be honest, I'm still just burnt out of playing New Leaf. I think I'm ready for the new AC game when it comes out. Hopefully it will be nice and fresh and not repetitive like New Leaf.

 

[Applepie]

Your Animal Crossing rut has cost millions of flowers their lives.

They will live on through our hearts.

Amen.

 

[sofieceliza]

Glad to see some other's share my feelings haha!
A few have mentioned the beautiful town ordinance... I had always considered this a very loose form of cheating haha.. I liked to look after my town myself rather than rely on it always being perfect by default! However I have taken the plunge and just switched to the beautiful town ordinance and ya know what, it probably will make life much easier when I can't be playing every day. lol.

 

[Wickel]

I can see why people feel that way. I just hope people don't forget what the Animal Crossing franchise is: it's a get-away from your everyday life. You jump out of it and land in a tiny village surrounded by your animal friends. There's no pressure there, nothing you need to do, except when you force yourself to do that.

It's not an issue when your paths aren't arranged perfectly, if flowers grow or houses get built where you don't want them. The randomness and laid-backness is one part of animal crossing that I love. If you force yourself to check in daily to make the perfect town, get the biggest house, get a full museum, get the perfect villagers... you will eventually get tired of playing the game. It should be an escape, not an obligation.
Animal Crossing can do great things for your mental health, but if you find that it is not beneficial to you anymore, there is literally not a single problem for you to stop playing! Please keep that in mind.