Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a content problem

We need to talk about the elephant in the room on the island. The popular Switch game Animal Crossing: New Horizons, has been a huge success for Nintendo. Part of that success is due to an influx of new players that flocked to the game when the country essentially went into quarantine in March 2020. Animal Crossing: New Horizons released soon after the beginning the COVID-19 crisis in the US, and it was a great escape for Nintendo Switch owners.

In the review of Animal Crossing: New Horizons I praised the game as the perfect treatment for a life in quarantine for months on end. For my wife specifically, who doesn’t play video games, New Horizons added a routine and purpose with its addictive and rewarding gameplay loop. It’s worth noting that since its release, my wife has played New Horizons every day. Outside of some items/recipes she didn’t get due to problematic drop rates in events, she has accomplished and built everything she has wanted to in the game.

As we approach one year since the game’s release, the well of content has dried up. That said, she’s not quite finished with Animal Crossing: New Horizons just yet. She desperately wants more, meaningful content. She wants additions that give her something to strive for in her daily login. Unfortunately, the game isn’t delivering that. A short event every month isn’t cutting it. The latest Festival event on February 15 was only for a day. Multiple times a week she talks about how she wishes there was more for her to do now.