This article goes live Christmas Eve, so it’s only fitting to tie it into that season of giving. I’ve been getting back into Animal Crossing: New Leaf recently after taking about a year off from it from last October to this October. Those of you who play AC games know the vicious cycle that happens when you’re unable to check in for a couple of days: you get nervous about how different things are going to be when you finally turn the game on again. The slogan for the original Animal Crossing on GCN was, of course, “the real life game that’s playing, even when you’re not.”

When I finally turned it on after about a year, the results weren’t as bad as I was expecting. One of my villagers, Dotty, had moved away, but she moved to GL Head Editor Christie’s town so I can still visit her. There was a new villager, Bree, and she moved away a couple of days after I started playing daily again. The town was, of course, covered in weeds. I had a bad case of bedhead. There were cockroaches all over my house. The villagers wondered what had happened to their mayor. Some of them thought I clandestinely moved away. Cranston thought I had just overslept. But they welcomed me back with open arms.

And now, what the world of AC playfully dubs “Toy Day” is fast approaching. In ACNL, this event revolves around the player playing the role of Santa Claus. Throughout December the villagers will drop hints about what they asked for. Your job is to make sure they get what they wanted. It’s a fun little diversion and a nice way for ACNL to reflect the holiday season. It got me thinking about my personal history with the Animal Crossing series and what it means to be able to go back to New Leaf after a year. Continue reading Animal Crossing and the Season of Giving →