YvoCaro Plays: What Else?

Time to sit down for another YvoCaro Plays. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? As always, these blurbs are mostly about the video games I’m currently playing. Sometimes though, there’s my daily life in there as well, like today!

If you like these bits of gaming thoughts you can find the previous ones here

My Casual Gaming Fix

Those of you who have followed my writings about video games for some time know how happy I am that we have our casual gaming fix with Animal Crossing New Horizons. So when I was thinking that I really should take the time to write another YvoCaro Plays, all I could think of as a subtitle was: “What else? “

So yes, it’s all I’ve been playing since March 20th. But if you are thinking that my island must be a sophisticated haven by now, a resort style getaway that’s had a total makeover, you are wrong. It’s not. Hanalei is still very much au naturel: only yesterday, 40 days after my island getaway came to life, I finally got my terraforming ability. 

I could say that I’m going slow on purpose. Savoring the experience of this gem of a game. The best in the series so far, with (almost) every element perfect. But no, it’s all to do with having a new job in real life. Still in the same company, but in a new business unit. Less to do with finances, more to do with working with people. 

A new Job during Lockdown

I started April 1 (no, no joke!) right in the middle of the Corona Lockdown. But that didn’t stop me diving right in. Thank heaven for the internet, Microsoft Teams and all my colleagues who were in the same boat: working from home. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we all adapted to this new way of working? Where in the past you simply had to be there and attend important meetings in person, now it turns out that the same result can be attained from behind your kitchen table! 

But, back to gaming. All this has meant that my gaming time during my commute is gone. Theoretically I could still get up at 5 am and get an hour of gaming in. Yep, could do that. But come on, even I’m not that disciplined!  Instead, I stay in bed for longer and can then still start work at 8 am! And aside from my regular job, I have my second job to do: running the site. 

No Rush, no Goals, no Pressure

Hanalei has suffered, but Animal Crossing has its own pace, hasn’t it? My animals are happy, they are frolicking about, lift weights or sit underneath a tree. The flowers look amazing, even if they haven’t been contained in neat borders yet. And Blathers is happy with every fish I bring him, even if the collection still lacks a lot. And he’s even happier that I don’t bring him a lot of bugs ( the bane of his existence!) 

And another thing that Animal Crossing inspires: amazing friends! Friends that come and help out with harvesting my trees. Friends that gave fossils that my museum was still missing. Friends that come over and chat with my animals, keeping them entertained. Because if there’s one thing that hasn’t changed over the many years of the AC series: the feeling of friendship with like-minded gamers online!