Building a community in Animal Crossing: New Horizons goes beyond collecting villagers and fixing up the town. For many fans of the slice-of-life simulator, Animal Crossing has been a way to create special memories with friends and family, or even meet new people, thanks to island travel via the internet and different community forums and groups online. Because of this, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has connected a large community of fans together, offering a space to show off unique island designs, sell items, and experience seasonal events.
Animal Crossing has given many fans a way to express special moments with others. New Horizons has a mechanic allowing players to create custom designs for clothing and decorations, and these tools have been used to create special Animal Crossing memorials for friends and family who have passed away. These memorials can be seen by island visitors, allowing the community to express grief, loss, and recovery together, helping to ease the loneliness that comes with losing a loved one, especially in a time when that may have not been possible in real life.
Making friends online to share island codes with can be a lot of fun for Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans, and some encounters have even blossomed into love. This was the case for Animal Crossing players Steven Brown and Shayla Johnson, who met up on a Facebook group for Animal Crossing fans. Playing together not only led to a romantic connection, but the two are now engaged, and planning to build their life together outside of the virtual islands where they met.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Inspired A Website For Fans
Crafting, collecting, and finding unique items is a large part of daily activities in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it has led to a booming economy between players on the fan-made website Nookazon. Nookazon was created shortly after the release of New Horizons to give players a place to swap goods for Bells or other items. Players can even post villagers leaving their islands up on the site, offering others the ability to purchase an invite opportunity for a favorite villager. Nookazon is run on a good-faith system and requires the community to work together to swap goods and have fun.
The Animal Crossing: New Horizons community is home to a diverse group of fans. This can be seen in the many different, carefully-crafted island designs shared over different websites. Players have recreated Harry Potter common rooms, rebuilt the sets of horror films, and even made special Pokémon-themed Animal Crossing homes. Because the Animal Crossing community is home to so many different fans, it is a great way to get introduced to new ideas and content, as well as share personal favorites with others. Animal Crossing: New Horizons' first year has brought fans of the series closer together than previous games in the franchise, and hopefully this will continue into the game's second year.