There’s nothing more perfect about the timing of Animal Crossing New Horizon‘s global release on the Nintendo Switch, considering that it dropped on the very first days that quarantine regulations were implemented all over the world. With nowhere to go and the world’s chaos rapidly coming in from all sides, many found comfort in a tiny little virtual island in the famous Switch title. Everyone except for some, it seems.

If you’re not familiar with the game, the latest franchise of Animal Crossing gives players the avenue to manage their own island. They can dress their characters with the game’s rich collection of face styles, hairdos, and clothes, recruit (or pressure to kick out) any villager of their choosing, and the complete liberty to plant, build, and dig their way to designing their island however way they want. Other players can also visit each other’s islands to play mini games, explore, and check out their unique styles.

A lot of people who play the game are hooked by its cute, lovable graphics and the in-game routine you live by that is a welcome addition to your otherwise conventional daily quarantine life. When everything just seems to be too overwhelming out here in the real world, the game is an escape where you have full control.

The main selling point of ACNH is truly the creative freedom you have. For fans of simulation games like The Sims,  this game would be the anxiety-ridding past time that others religiously enjoy. Just as fun as the classic Stardew Valley, which is now ported to Switch and is comparable to ACNH for its farming, crafting, building, and NPC mechanics, ACNH offers a second life for us to live out. With those references on its gameplay and the countless videos online talking about its hype, it would be an understatement to call it a marvelous game that you have to at least experience in your gaming life.

But the pressure of having to do all the in-game quests and tasks to make your island look a certain way, managing the villagers’ satisfaction, and the prospect of entertaining real-life friends when they fly over to your island was too much for some gamers to handle.

In the first month of the game’s release, people were so ecstatic about it and it filled social media with tons of pictures and clips from friends’ islands, and some indulged to really put in the hours to achieve their dream island designs. Even in YouTube, there’s an increased algorithm in Animal Crossing contents particularly videos that bombards you of the most creative, mind-blowing 5-star islands out there. People really commit to a theme in this virtual space, and players from all over the world are showing off their own unique tastes with themes like Harry Potter, Japanese, and Halloween-inspired islands, just to name a few. Even when pausing the game, it still induces a mental crisis to keep watch of your island because the game works in real time.

Its charm can be addicting and instead of receiving more walk-throughs of the game in social media and gaming sites, there’s more creative suggestions and tips out there that only messes up one’s creative freedom and it comes with a negative perspective among select gamers. Decorating your own island comes with a burden because one starts off with a blank canvas.

There’s also pressures of working hard for the money because even though it’s only a simulation of our lives, the game features a massive spending lifestyle that requires gamers to persevere everyday only to reach that certain investment that you have always wanted. And this doesn’t come easy. It only seems like life outside is only mirrored in the game and that you still live a life very much like the outside world you are supposedly escaping from, albeit fleetingly.

Take a bridge for example: to purchase one, you have to borrow 100,000-500,000 Bells (the in-game currency), commit it to a spot, and raise enough money to pay off the loan. If you want to change the location or style of the bridge, you have to pay another round of 10,000 Bells to demolish it then pay the same initial lump sum to rebuild it.

The same goes for all the houses and major infrastructures you construct. And, just like in real life, earning that many Bells does not come overnight because the game works in realtime and you only have limited avenues to earn money each day. So, you really have to choose where and what you construct carefully, so much so, that you don’t wanna regret your decisions and start over another investment for days.

Then there’s the “visiting other islands” feature of the game. In the popular Animal Crossing, many cliques would ask for island invites and being a host can be an intimidating task. Of course, the idea of fostering a virtual community and the gesture and the fun of bonding with friends online is, at its core, one of its most famous features, but it’s also indirectly a silent game of who-did-what-better, and for that reason alone, the anxiety can be overwhelming. With many people flaunting their beautiful creations and evidently showing their lavish spending ability in-game, one’s design, gaming, and strategic skills are constantly in check, indirectly turning it into a game of comparisons.

For these reasons, it can lead to too much unnecessary stress just designing a virtual island that it can only get in the way of enjoying its scenic sights, calming soundtrack, and heartwarming interactions. Social media won’t help either because it only shows all the ways other people were having fun in the game and it can make one feel even more out of place for missing the extravagant experience that others are fond of. The fact that the game is synced in real time only felt like an extension of one’s life instead of the much-needed escape one deserves.

So, the risk comes with the resurfacing of feelings like insecurity, self-imposed pressure, and a gnawing feeling of self-blame for not putting in the hours to exhibit the same level of creativity as others. But to balance it out, the game is also a beautiful way to escape the sad realities we live nowadays even for a bit. Well, some gamers are totally free of the pressures we mentioned just because everyone finds enjoyment in their own ways. And breaking it down, the things that made Animal Crossing: New Horizons perhaps the best quarantine game, were the very ironic reasons that it evokes real feelings.