To restart or not to restart?

[misstayleigh]

hi all! I think I've hit a fatigue block with my island. I haven't had much time to play in the last few weeks, but I also feel like I've lost some motivation--I am not in love with my island, landscaping, or villagers. I know with terraforming I can slowly rearrange things, but I also feel like a fresh restart may be more exciting and rewarding. has anyone here restarted at any point? would you recommend it, yay or nay?

 

[Sudsofsplash]

I haven't restarted (Because I was pretty happy with everything!) But if you want to restart then restart!!

 

[Annika.]

I restarted mostly because of my river outlets, my native fruit and my town hall location. I think anything else can be changed, if you're bored just turn back the clock to a couple of weeks ago and then just play every day until you're bored with it and go to the next one. I don't see a reason to restart unless something bothers you that can't be changed. It's better to just hop around when you're bored and replay your missed days.

 

[Chachamaru]

I have, and I would recommend it. If something bothers you about your town/map that cant be changed, just bite the bullet and do it or odds are it will always annoy you. Is that why you're feeling uninspired/bored? If not, maybe dont reset.. Not sure.

I personally wasn't feeling my map and couldnt get it to work for me. My best advice is reset until you find a map you like, walk around it a little before talking to nook, look for one that inspires you and feels homey. Pay attention to placement of river outlets and townhall, obvious stuff I guess.

When I restarted my town, it just clicked into place much different then the first time for me..

 

[JKDOS]

I've been tempted to restart several times. I've gotten stuck terraforming (for about 3 weeks), and I was convinced starting with a fresh map would help. I was running around in circles for hours day in and day out. and was kinda depressed that my island was empty, and kinda pathetic. I had to constantly remind myself that outside of the beach area, nothing would really change in the end, because I have full control of the inside of the map. I've actually stuck it out, and I think I'm recovering now without having to restart. Seeing the hedges on Earth Day revived me from the slump I was in.

There are some reasons some may want to restart though, such as getting better river outlets. I knew going in I wasn't going to be able to change those with terraforming, so I picked on the was close to my vision for my island. I can't speak for everyone though

If you haven't already, I recommend tying out Happy Island Designer so you can experiment with things: https://eugeneration.github.io/HappyIslandDesigner/

 

[Babypink]

I’ve restarted my very first island cause I was feeling the same thing. The layout was terribile(don’t know why chose it in the first place) and I hated every single villager there except for Beau. I’ve also started to time travel like crazy which I’ve never did in any animal crossing games and that spoilt everything for me. So I’ve restarted taking day by day, without time travelling which is really not for me and I love my island now. I see it coming together! And I also adore my villagers! So yes, restarting is always the best option for me!

 

[Arithmophobia17]

if the main thing bothering you is something that can not be changed, go for it. but if you're looking to really terraform or something along those lines you can move all the buildings and tear your island all the way down and design from there. i assume it's a bit like a restart without restarting

 

[Llunavale]

It depends how you want to restart! Restart then play day-by-day (are you sure you want to put in that much time all over again to unlock everything?) or set your clock back and play back up to real time (this will probably leave you unmotivated or burnt out) - there's a fair bit to consider I guess!

I will say, I restarted, and personally it was the best decision I made. I was pretty bummed with my town - had two south river mouths, town hall was weirdly in the centre of the island (more or less), didn't like the rocky outcrops on the beach...I spent a lot of timing picking the perfect natural island and I am super happy with it now - it re-ignited that creative spark, I suppose.

 

[Candy83]

I am good with my island, Óhana.

If I was in the position of wanting to restart…I would want to know how many buildings we will end up being able to have.

That would inform my decision on layout.

 

[Spooky.]

Honestly, I'd only restart if you really HATE the things you can't change with time.

 

[misstayleigh]

wow!!! thank you all for your replies :,)

I think I have come to a creative rut that has to do with my island layout and also with a bit of ~jealous onlooking~ at friends' islands, etc. the latter I know is fixable with terraforming--it isn't necessarily my rivers or beaches that I hate, but in general, I wish I had better planned out where my shops and villagers' homes are. I guess my thought is if I'm not sold on those, though, and nothing is really keeping me tied to this island... maybe restarting would save me the bells and time it would take to move everything building by building, day by day, etc.

so as of right now I am leaning toward restarting! just happy to know I'm not the only person who has felt totally burnt out and overwhelmed by everything haha

 

[Lotusblossom]

I'm gonna restart for the third time yeah this game is driving me nuts and I'm about to just return it all I really hope I can

 

[Magnolia_]

It sounds like you have answered your own question If you think a fresh start will renew your motivation and make your playing experience more fun, then restarting sounds like the right thing for you to do. Good luck and I'm sure you will find your dream layout quickly!

 

[s i r e n t i c]

I haven’t restarted my island because I really love everything about it, but honestly if you’re not really feeling your island then go for it!
Restarting can be super fun and refreshing!

 

[toenuki]

i did it, got everything back within a week with a better map and better villagers!

 

[Sharla Smith]

hi all! I think I've hit a fatigue block with my island. I haven't had much time to play in the last few weeks, but I also feel like I've lost some motivation--I am not in love with my island, landscaping, or villagers. I know with terraforming I can slowly rearrange things, but I also feel like a fresh restart may be more exciting and rewarding. has anyone here restarted at any point? would you recommend it, yay or nay?

If you want someone to hold your stuff I’ll be glad to C:

 

[tajikey]

My island is at a point where I'm content, but subtle changes can be made to improve it. I have a few building and bridge moves to make, but I've never once considered restarting. The only thing I cared about was having two south river exits, and I got that. I got my least favorite fruit as native (pears), and least desired airport color (blue), but other fruit trees came, and the muted nature of the blue hue makes the airport mesh better with the environment.

Do what you want to do, but understand that no particular map will be perfect.

 

[Corrie]

Let's be real here: do you really wanna listen to that dreaded song again on repeat?

 

[Vanillite]

I restarted three times (granted, it was before I got into the game heavily) because I didn't like my starting villagers or the island layout. Yes, you can terraform, but it can be super overwhelming to want to terraform and overhaul everything! Imagine the costs of moving houses a bunch of times just to get one part elevated the way you want it! I restarted until I found a map that I felt I would only desire to make minimal changes to- Which I did! Make it easier on you!

 

[mystery]

Don’t restart unless you’ve not played it for like a year. Between the frequent updates and all the time you’ve no doubt put in restarting will only result in you losing out. You’ll get bored quicker with your new island because you’ve already done the tutorial stuff anything you benefit from like a new layout or villagers you can basically get by waiting it out.

I have long term goals for my island and won’t be happy with it for quite some time but that doesn’t matter it’s not the island itself but every thing on it (shops, your house flowers and let’s not for forget your catalog, critter page museum and diy selection) are what make your game worth playing I can almost guarantee there will come a day you’ll regret it should you restart.