When Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out in March 2020, I was completely obsessed. I had played some New Leaf and really enjoyed its cozy atmosphere, but I hadn’t gotten into it until years after release, when the community fervor had died down. For New Horizons, I was on the frontlines. With nothing to do but play on my Switch, I put in almost an entire month straight of time into the game.

At the time, I wanted nothing more than to get everything I possibly could out of New Horizons as fast as possible. Waiting to collect all the DIY recipes, gather my daily materials, and see what Nook’s Cranny had in stock every day felt tortuously slow, so I committed the gravest sin in Animal Crossing. I time-traveled. With no Resetti to shame me, I regularly sped up my days until in-game weeks went by in real-life days. Five years out from New Horizons’ launch, I regret speed running through my experience.

Time Travel Has Downsides In Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Speeding Through Life Isn't The Best Approach

Time traveling is always incredibly tempting in a game that’s tied to real time. Life sims have a slow-paced feeling to them in general, and starting off in New Horizons is especially slow. After players touch down on their new island paradise, there are only two other Villagers and a meager handful of NPCs to interact with. While you can fill your days with fishing and running around, there’s not much else to do except wait for the store and museum to be built.

After that very early-game stage has been overcome, New Horizons has a small set of daily chores (speak to Villagers, hit rocks, chop trees, fish) that can be completely finished in a short amount of time. Thus begins the real temptation to time travel, but it also comes with real downsides. For me, that downside truly started with the Stalk Exchange, as I found a way to quickly rack up bells without waiting for my local Nook’s to show a good buying price with a combination of time travel and visiting random players' islands.

During the early days of New Horizons, there was a very lively marketplace online for buying and selling turnips. The in-game gambling system, facilitated by Daisy Mae on Sunday mornings, allowed players to buy turnips and sell them later at Nook’s when they thought the buying price was at its highest. To by waiting, online listings with lucrative sell prices would allow other players to visit (for a high fee) and sell their turnips. Using this method, I very quickly earned millions of bells within weeks of starting on my island.

Animal Crossing Is Meant For A Slow & Steady Pace

Games Meant To Be Experienced Over Years, Not Weeks

Animal Crossing has always been a series that encourages a slow and steady pace. Players are meant to slowly earn bells to pay off their house, another, and start public works projects. With my ill-gotten millions in the bank due to time traveling and manipulating the stalk market, I was able to do all of this on an incredibly accelerated timeline. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I was robbing myself of future enjoyment.

Animal Crossing players are supposed to visit their towns once a day, check up on their Villagers, collect some resources, go shopping, and then come back the next day. Being tied to a real-life time and hemisphere allows the game to incorporate real holidays and seasons that slowly transition into each other, all while players are accomplishing their long-term goals like paying off Tom Nook. Since I had time-traveled so much, what I had for the months afterward was a less enjoyable experience, as all my goals were finished within weeks.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons does have its problems, namely a focus on decorating over socializing, but by time traveling, I had stolen my long-term enjoyment. The best way to play any Animal Crossing is to take it one day at a time and embrace the natural timeline of the game. While it is tempting to speed forward and get every item as fast as possible, that can make the game far less enjoyable later on. Playing New Horizons after those first few weeks wasn’t as fun as it could’ve been if I had resisted temptation.

The Next Animal Crossing Is My Chance To Change

A Fresh Start In An Entirely New Town

Nintendo hasn’t officially announced that another Animal Crossing is in the works, but since it’s such a staple series and has been so financially successful in the past, it’s more than likely that another title will come out for the Nintendo Switch 2 at some point. That date might be pretty far out on the horizon right now, but that sequel will eventually give me a chance to play Animal Crossing as it should be played. While I could go back to New Leaf or even restart on New Horizons, I’ve already experienced both of those games for hundreds of hours.

The main life simulation title currently on Nintendo's slate is Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, a Switch sequel to a 3DS cult classic.

Being far too familiar with a game means restarting won’t provide that same fresh experience. The next Animal Crossing title is my chance to play the series as it was meant to be played. Taking one day at a time, earning money slowly, and not feeling left behind by online communities posting their islands/towns will allow for a fuller, better experience over the years, even if my island isn’t as perfect for a long time.

It is highly likely that I’ll engage in some sort of time travel, but limiting myself to changing the time of day or only going back to missed days for a birthday or event should allow me to get the best Animal Crossing experience possible. Perhaps bringing Resetti back for a larger role in shaming players for breaking the rules will curb this temptation of mine, rather than limiting him to a background role in rescue services.