Did YOU find ACNH to be a chill game?

[JellyBeans]

definitely! you have so much freedom and you can do literally whatever you want in whatever way you want. there is definitely increasing competitiveness with the idea of having a 'perfect' island, like the ones you see on instagram, but that's largely just due to the influence of social media now and how individual people can feel either overwhelmed or inspired by what they see online. personally at the beginning of NH I definitely felt the stress to have a beautifully landscaped and decorated island, but now I'm so much more chill about it and I can absolutely relax while playing because I'm doing whatever i want to do.
AC has always been about having this 'escape' where you can literally just talk to animals and live your life, and so yes I definitely find it to be a chill game (except for when I have to try and find all the DIYs in balloons.. worst experience of my life)

 

[Mad Aly]

I can see the argument in both; it's relaxing if you use it for therapeutic purpose, otherwise it becomes a bit of a headache. Personally, I enjoy it for its noncompetitive gameplay, but I do find myself scrambling to finish my island as soon as possible. Doesn't necessarily stress me out, but I get bursts of determination and even frustration to see more progress. So, if anything, I would consider it to give me eustress? Basically/In other words, a fun challenge.

 

[Fantasyland]

Oh... I didn't realize that other people thought it was chill. I see it the same as any other Animal Crossing game, through the lens of the fandom that I participate in, mainly this forum and Tumblr. I'm not stressed or unhappy playing the game, but I play it with goals in mind, so in that way it can never be a chill game.

 

[Catto]

well, to me at leats animal crossing has always been a very chill game... and it's not because im not competitive (i am, a lot) but i happen to play for the escapism, and decorating spaces/collecting things has always been a relaxing experience for me. I have been using the same approach to the game I've been using since WW and it seems to work for me, the grind of catching fish, bugs and collecting art is really soothing (to me) and I really don't stress much about how good/bad my island looks (for the record, i do put a lot of work and have parts of my island i really like). Another reason I don't stress might be because I'm not really in social media (I follow the ac subreddit but I am literally never on there, and i get some ac content recomended on ig but not much) so I dont really see what other people are doing w their islands, i didn't even knew how to access the dream suit untill literally yesterday ^^;

 

[Kattea]

I think the gameplay itself is pretty relaxing. Even doing things that are a bit of a chore such as cleaning up flowers or chopping trees for wood. For me, the stress comes from trying to make my island look like the ones you see on Pinterest, specifically terraforming. It’s so much creative freedom that I don’t know where to start. I also feel like I should be working on something at all times, rather than waiting for inspiration to strike me. I definitely have felt the need to put the game away for a period of time to come back with a clear head.

 

[Roxxy]

At the moment I am finding it pretty chill as the most stressful thing I am doing is wrapping fruit to try and get photographs, shopping and fishing. It has been hard for a long time when doing balloon hunting, trying to terraform and that is before I even think about the museum or making my island better

I love AC for the escapism, I need that right now so anything that needs doing will have to wait

 

[daffodilcrossing]

I think animal crossing is relaxing if you don’t focus on other islands. I think the problem is that there is so much animal crossing content on the internet that’s so easily accessible, which is good and bad. It’s good because if you want inspiration it’s there plus people can share ideas and designs that way. Also some creators make really beautiful photos of their islands and villagers. But on the negative side it can make people feel like their islands aren’t as good, which I definitely have first hand experience with. I think that there needs to be better dialogue in the community about not comparing your game to others, and there needs to be less judging. I see people judge about the frequency of cottagecore islands, time traveling, pink towns in ACNL. I think if the community just focused on playing for fun and not completion or judging then the game would be more relaxing. I’d venture to say that those who play the game and don’t have any interaction with the online community have a more relaxing time

 

[DrewAC]

Definitely. It's one of, if not the most, "chill" game on the market.

It's also what you make out of it though. If you're going to spend your time comparing your island to other people, constantly feel the need to grind DIY's to the point where it makes you stressed, look for negatives, etc., you will have a miserable time. Do what makes you happy and find what gives you the most enjoyment out of this game.

It's been since March and I still play this game every day, often doing the same activities daily before I do other things. It hasn't gotten stale yet, and I love it.

 

[grandpa]

Things that may stress ppl is, that in NL they have gotten so much freedom that they don't know what to do with it. its may not make it better that some feel the pressure to get a 5star island, and forget to make a island that suit them or that they like them self, even if it may it be 1 star island. and here it may help that we get some of the old villager quest. as plant some flowers or a villager want a bench. Something like that. the music could be better and more chill, like in the older games. but we all got different tastes there. Its dont make it better that some of the thing in NL is to easy to grind, so ppl that hardcore grind thos things and get burn out over it. example ppl can easily grind villager picture like mad, where in the old games its where more "if i get it, i get it" but then again now we have more information, then we might have been able grind them as well .... and lastly. will say the tool breaking isn't as bad as it is. since ppl can just buy the tools from nooks cranny, faster and easyer

 

[Rosch]

It's a pretty chill game... half of the time. I've been playing this game daily since day one, and I can definitely say that the game is indeed relaxing when you're just doing whatever you want. Just passing the time, fishing, gardening, decorating.

Other half of the time, it can be stressful: terraforming, grinding for seasonal DIYs, looking for those rare bugs and fish, island hopping trying to find a specific villager...

So yeah, ACNH for me is half chill and half stressful.

 

[Jacob]

I did! Especially at the earlier parts of the game when no one really knew the full extent of furniture, clothes, etc available, I had a really fun, relaxing time exploring the game and ways to customize my island. No one had any previous experience decorating outdoors so there were really no expectations. At this point in the game, it feels a bit more grind-ey and a headache to perfect.

 

[maria110]

I wouldn't say the game is chill but I do consider it to be attention-holding. So in a way it's relaxing because it takes the mind away from real life worries. Sometimes the escapism is enjoyable and sometimes things in the game are annoying.

I don't feel stressed about my islands not looking cool enough. Once I get the 5 star rating for the golden watering can and get my house to a gold trophy, I figure that's enough of an accomplishment. I try to make the island and house look nice or comfortable to me--I'm not just throwing stuff everywhere for points--but I don't try to have a super fancy island like the artwork ones you see on youtube. I just like fairly pretty, natural looking islands. I don't worry about completing my museum because some of the bugs and fish are nearly impossible to get. I wish Isabelle wasn't so anti-trees. I might let my current island's rating drop back so I can have more trees.

 

[Peach_Jam]

yup! especially at the beginning heh. I was doing a lot of the daily tasks and kind of chilling around my island with my villagers. Nowadays I'm more focused on trying to finish up landscaping and decorating my island, but I still find that aspect of the game to be just as relaxing c:

 

[loveclove]

It's mostly chill. Can't say I've never been a little burnt out from trading too much and playing online here on the forum a lot for a few months. But that's on me. I don't see myself as a completionist, I'm totally fine with not completing my museum or my catalog, I just do this things slowly. I also don't feel compelled to have my island be perfect, and I don't compare much since many of the perfect islands on Instagram come from people with much more free time than I have lol I only get annoyed when I need to do repetitive activities that start to feel like chores, for example when I reach the 40 NMT mark while searching for villagers, crafting or when you have to gather tons of the same materials. Sometimes at those points the game stops being fun for a little while

 

[Elias_]

I think NH is very relaxing most of the time. The only thing that sometimes stresses me is the tools breaking. But other than that, especially in the evening, playing NH makes me feel relaxed.

 

[nightglow]

Ive had anxiety with this game but that was totally on me. This second time im having less however acnh was my first ac game so i think some of the overwhelming was because it was pretty different compared to what im use to... Platforming.
Also thanks to awesome shop people i have my catalog of orderables filled so trading with others is really low for me. I just have diys to fill out and my nook mile items i believed i finished trading for. That alone has helped my anxiety too. Terraforming isnt going to be as big of a deal for me this time because I have a plan and a good map base. As i said my anxiety was on me. And so far this game is going pretty smooth for me this second time.

 

[Feraligator]

I find it nice, although less so than NL. I do feel like other islands are better than mine but I do enjoy redoing my island as well, so that's not much of a problem. The problem for me is the music. That alone makes the game way less relaxing than NL and WW.

Oh and seasonal DIYs. Why, just why lock them to balloons when they could appear in bottles and neighbours could be crafting them???

 

[Starfish10]

I’ve never been stressed out about a video game before... it’s just a game! Games are supposed to be fun! If I’m playing a game and I get stressed, I just put the game away and do something else. So no, I’ve never been stressed while playing Animal Crossing before.

 

[SlEEPYTEARRS]

right now, for me, no

i was so unhappy with my first island i tore it up, but issue is i have no direction i really want to go right now and so i get on, do some terraforming, get overwhelmed, and exit. rinse and repeat

i decided to go on pinterest and now i feel semi-inspired at least

 

[Matt0106]

It’s definitely chill for me! I can’t be bothered to worry about how in inferior my island is compared to that of others’; if I’m happy with it, that’s all I need. The real thing that stressed me out was making sure I got all the fish and bugs on time each month