Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)

Instead of on TV, we just watched the New Year’s countdown in Animal Crossing—a fitting way to close out the year, since we’ve been all about virtual celebrations this year. Not to mention the fact that the game accompanied the start of the COVID stay-at-home era.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend and a 2021 that we can enjoy in the moment and look back on fondly.

I have to just copy and paste this marketing email I got today for this game. I don't even understand how this is possible?

You’re invited… to Ally Island! Digital financial services company Ally Financial is launching a new effort that levels up the enjoyment of learning about finances, starting with a unique activation in “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”

Only a third of Americans can answer four out of five basic financial questions, down from 42% a decade ago, with the biggest drop among young people ages 18-34.* Through a series of initiatives, Ally will bring lessons about money to where this generation spends its time: gaming.

The first of these kicks off tonight with the opening of Ally Island inside “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Concepts such as currency, interest rates and real estate are all part of the game, and Ally Island will give players the opportunity to not only improve their in-game financial positions, but also gain a deeper understanding of important money concepts.

Streamer and gamer KangGaming will officially unveil Ally Island tonight, 10/23, at 7:00 PM ET via his Twitch stream. Then, players can visit the island and take advantage of its Stalk Exchange, which will feature a record-breaking, game-shattering exchange rate of 1,000 bells per turnip. The island also provides a photo opp overlooking “Little Detroit,” hosts the game’s first golf tournament, and shows players what their savings can buy at Bucket List Beach. More info and a schedule of events can be found below. The island dream code is DA-9350-9609-6289.

More details on Ally Island are at Ally.com/allyisland and below. Would you like images to share with your readers?

Thanks! Glenn Mandel Tier One Partners

Ally Island Overview Between increasing players’ wealth and getting them back on their feet, Ally draws players to Ally Island with a number of in-game activities and surprises. At the Jimmie Johnson race track, players race for a chance to win the NASCAR driver’s coveted fire suit and merch. The island also provides a photo opp overlooking “Little Detroit”, hosts the game’s first golf tournament, and shows players what their savings can buy at Bucket List Beach. Of course players can also imagine their dream home at Ally’s Dream Home Emporium, a museum filled with the game’s most highly valued items. Grand piano? Crescent moon? Yes and yes. They thought of everything. Gamers can visit Ally Island through 11/6.

Ally’s Stalk Exchange: From 10/23 - 10/27, players will line up to sell their turnips on Ally Island and realize never-seen-before profits. Every turnip = 1,000 bells. Visit Ally Island through Turnip.Exchange at turnip.exchange/ and take advantage of some of the best turnip prices in the game!

Twitch Stream: 10/23: 7:00 - 9:00 pm ET Twitch.tv/kanggaming

Turnip Exchange on Ally Island: 10/23: 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm ET 10/24: 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm ET 10/25: 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm ET 10/26: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm ET 10/27: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm ET

*FINRA Investor Education Foundation. “The State of U.S. Financial Capability: The 2018 National Financial Capability Study. (June 2019)

I'm excited for the second Summer update's inclusion of a data backup feature... I lost years of New Leaf progress to a corrupted Micro SD a couple of years ago and the wounds are still fresh. But after months of fun, I fell off this game far more abruptly than past entries.

If I could snap my fingers and revise one aspect of New Horizons, it would be the villager interactions. The collectibles are awesome and the immediate draw for me, but it's always been the villager interactions that kept me returning for years to come. Now that I've paid off my loans, furnished my house, terraformed the island to my liking, built as many inclines and bridges as the game will allow, and collected all there is to collect until the season changes, there isn't much incentive for me to check back in for the same handful of shallow conversations that repeat ad nauseum.

Don't get me wrong, if Nintendo keeps things as-is, I more than got my money's worth out of this game already. Feature for feature, I'd argue almost every aspect of the experience is an improvement. There's just some crucial little spark that's missing from the game's day-to-day for me.