Through the introduction of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” people have been able to get through a lack of social interaction and experience healthy online relationships.

The psychology behind video games during COVID-19 pandemic: A case study of Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Background: With the risk of engaging in escapism, Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers players a dreamworld where they may momentarily escape the harsh realities. In contrast, the New Horizons environment develops into the ideal social platform for maintaining social engagement with people in order to combat loneliness. The article distinguishes whether the game is a “dreamland” or just a temporary form of escapism.

How I Intend To Use It: I intend on using this article to explain whether “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is truly a “dreamland” or just a temporary form of escapism. I want to dive into whether or not this game does provide people the fill they needed during the pandemic, or if it did not satisfy them at all.

My Thoughts on the Article:
Social interaction is another highlight of the game’s success, and it is highly related to ones’ psychological well-being to get rid of the loneliness.
The article goes further into you, as the player, being the only human in an island full of animals. You may be “lonely” as the article describes it…but you aren’t “alone.”The island is filled with different villagers that you can befriend (or turn them against you…it’s all based on how you play the game and how well you treat them).
This aspect of the game can relieve the lack of social interaction to an extent…even if it is with fictional animal characters.

Can Animal Crossing make you happier?

Background: Research suggests that playing video games contributes to positive emotions. Some of these benefits may be attributed to the stress-relieving abilities that video games have. In order for players to be able to shift their focus away from stress they are experiencing in their everyday, offline life, they need to immerse themselves in a fictional world.

How I Intend To Use It: I intend to use this article to examine many games and support my claim that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has nailed these stress-relieving advantages. Of course, not everybody has engaged in the game. However, I think that this game is superior in making up for the lack of social connection that occurred during the epidemic, and I want to make the case for why people should purchase this game if they experience these feelings.

My Thoughts on the Article: ““Animal Crossing” are designed to be relaxing. There is never a sense of urgency, and you can choose how you want to play the game. However, research has found that even games that involve more stressful gameplay or include violence can be relaxing for many individuals. By immersing themselves in a fictional world, players are able to shift their focus away from stress in their everyday, offline life.”
The game is intended to be relaxing as it allows players to play the way THEY want to. Players don’t have to worry about reaching a specific goal within a time frame. The choice is ultimately up to them.

“n the past, video games have been traditionally viewed as a solitary activity. However, modern video games often include opportunities to play with other people, either by playing with each other online or playing together in person. In the case of “Animal Crossing,” you are able to visit the island of any other player in the game. Some players hold virtual birthday parties, have meteor shower watch parties or get their friends to help them water flowers in the game. This allows people to connect even in a time when many are socially isolating.“
There are many opportunities for players to socially spend time with others when the pandemic makes it difficult to do so. The online features offers many ideas for players to plan events quickly and creatively.

Video Games Are Social Spaces

Background: There is evidence to suggest that video games can be a safe place to experiment with social interactions for vulnerable people. These include people with autism spectrum disorders, insecure attachment styles, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety. Video games and other online spaces are “safe’ for these individuals because they allow people to communicate when they want to.

How I Intended To Use It: With this article, I want to take examples used when discussing individuals communicating with friends through video games towards the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I want to incorporate details within this article and apply it towards Animal Crossing as a whole.

My Thoughts of the Article:
– The paragraph titled, “Video Games as a Safe Space” gives me a good idea of what this could be about. During the questionable times the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic caused us all, majority of us went to playing video games as a safe space.
–“There is also evidence to suggest that video games can be a safe place to experiment with social interactions for vulnerable people. These include: people with autism spectrum disorders,
people with insecure attachment styles, (those whose unreliable relationships early in life have led to a feeling of mistrust in most other relationships) shy people, people with depressive symptoms, and people with social anxiety” I personally feel COVID affected a lot of our social presences and made us more vulnerable, if we weren’t already.
–“Successful conversations require a wide variety of skills that many take for granted, such as reading body language, understanding tone of voice, maintaining eye contact, and rapidly comprehending and responding to information. Online video games can allow players to talk to others and make friends at their current ability level even when they are not emotionally or physically able to leave their homes. This can help build the skills and confidence necessary to try it in-person.” Any video that has internet access can do this…to some degree. Games that are meant to be played online, (such as Call of Duty if I were to name an example) have features where you could speak to anyone who is online. Animal Crossing however is steered towards a wider variety of people, thus making it more difficult to find friends online (due to the fact children play the game as well).

The Quality of Online Social Relationships

Background: Offline social relationships are more valuable. However, online relationships can be less valuable. As a matter of fact, their net benefit is consistent with whether they help or replace offline social relationships.

How I intend to use it: I want to dive in further why people making friends online is easier than making friends offline. Especially during the pandemic when it is already difficult to even speak to someone face to face, communicating with people online is the easier solution for maintaining social skills.

My thoughts while reading:
“Surveys of the general public continually reveal that most people using the Internet value email and other
forms of online social interaction. Even in the age of the Web and e-commerce, online social interaction
is still the most important use of the Internet.”
Even before COVID, surveys have stated that online social interaction is the most important use of the Internet. During the pandemic, I can assume that these survey results probably changed with more people becoming more dependent on online social interaction.

Animal Crossing-A New Social Media?

Background: The article discusses the online features in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and how they are used within the game.

How I intend on using it: I intend on using this piece in my rebuttal argument, as the features the game has (online play and communicating with others via the internet) and how they relate to anyone using official social media platforms (such as Instagram or FaceBook) and how it’s fairly similar.

My Thoughts while reading:
“You can also add a player as either a friend or best friend, and send messages or mail whenever you want. These relationships can be seen as building a social network, perhaps with strong ties between your friends or best friends, and weak ties between those whose island you just visit casually through codes or the cloud storage.”
-You can do the same thing through official social media platforms
-You can send messages to friends whenever the user wants, much like messaging someone through Instagram whenever you want

“These relationships are unique in the pandemic times, where you can now virtually interact with someone, visit their home, share gifts, and explore together, which can retain current relationships and foster new ones.”
-Like any internet platform, people can make new friends within Animal Crossing. They can play with their current friends who also have the game and also meet new people online and make “Animal Crossing Friends” that way.