Summary
Anyone who has playedAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsknows the sheer number of hours that can go into an island. When the game was at its peak during the confusing first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, it offered a cozy reprieve and a way to connect with friends when face-to-face hangouts weren’t possible. The newest title in the well-loved Nintendo franchise boomed to a level of popularity that helped the Nintendo Switch soar in sales, making it near-impossible to find on the shelves three years after its launch.
Those who have been playing it in the years sincehave hundreds of hours in their save files. As someone with more than 300 hours into their original island on her console, I would be devastated to lose the progress I’ve so painstakingly made over the last few years (without time traveling, might I add). No matter how many times I’ve considered restarting, there’s something so special about this relic from the pandemic that stops me from wiping the island every time — even if I have a villager from my ex-boyfriend’s island still holding residence.
A Lost Switch With An ACNH Island
Found By The Community
Thankfully, when Reddit userShikkakkufound a Switch abandoned at Union Station in Toronto, they turned to theAnimal Crossingcommunity to try and reunite it with its owner. “It has an active game of AC: NH, and despite trying to message best friends in-game, figuring out the connected Facebook Profile, and messaging people with the same name,we’ve had no luck with getting in contact with the owner,“the OP wrote in the post, followed by a query for suggestions to find the original owner. What followed was a beautiful display of community to find the owner of the well-lovedNew Horizonsisland.
The Missing Switch Was Reunited With Its Owner Through The Reddit Post
The Switch Was Gifted To Them While They Were Sick
“I know how much it sucks losing something,especially a Switch with a few hundred gaming hours, so I hope this works,“OP wrote in the post on Reddit. The comments that followed were filled with suggestions as to how to find the console’s rightful owner, and thankfully, this is a story with a happy ending that restores a little faith in humanity (or at least inNew Horizonsplayers). Commenters suggestedsearching the island’s dream address to potentially locate the player’s online usernameor cross-posting about the find in various subreddits centered around Toronto.
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In less than 24 hours of the post going live, Reddit user djkeilz commented that they believed it was theirs and messaged OP to confirm. In an update to the comment,they confirmed it was their console and profoundly thanked the original poster(and everyone else who worked to help them). “OP is a literal angel!” they wrote. “If I knew losing my switch would connect me with such an amazing human I would have done it years ago LOL love this community, and faith in humanity restored x100,000.”
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Restarting an Animal Crossing New Horizons island can bring up a lot of mixed emotions for someone, in addition to having a lot to grind.
In further comments, djkeilz shared that the Switch was a gift to them when they became really sick, going through serious surgery and ultimately being bedridden for years. “[I] couldn’t do much other than sleep and watch TV. There’s no way I could afford to replace it, and I was DEVASTATED. It’s not “just a game” to me it’s also super sentimental,” they wrote.“I’m still floored this all worked out.”
All These Years Later, New Horizons Is Still Bringing People Together
It’s Been A Binding Glue In So Many Of My Personal Friendships
ThoughNew Horizonsis no longer a game that’s been in frequent use on my Switch, it has been a continued source of social connection since my first hours with it. Within a week of owning the game, I convinced my then-boyfriend (who had never played anAnimal Crossingtitle before) to buy it for his Switch. He quickly took to the game, and we spent our quarantined evenings parallel playing to the game’s cozy soundtrack. We swapped title recommendations and favorite games for the rest of our time together — andsome of his suggestions are still my best-loved games.
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Despite Animal Crossing: New Horizons having over 400 villagers available, there are still more from past games in the series that are missed.
Though that relationship has long ended,New Horizonsonly continued to serve as a bridge for new connections in my life. When my roommate, who wasn’t a gamer, expressed interest in playing the title, I pitched in to purchase them a copy for their impulse-purchased Switch. We flew back and forth between islands,sharing extra recipe cards and stacks of resourcesas they started their first island design. Our time gaming together now consists of rounds ofMario Partywith the neighbors or sharing my copy ofSplatoon 3while we each debaterestarting our islands.
I then fostered a friendship with a barista at my favorite coffee shop after we talked about our shared love ofNew Horizons, leading to us toswapping Switch codes and visiting each other’s islands. We’ve since moved to other games, connecting over RPGs and new releases (though they still tell me about their annual New Year’s Eve island party every winter).
As a child, I restarted my little town inAnimal Crossing: Wild Worlda dozen times, but my originalNew Horizonsisland continues to hold a soft spot in my heart. It’s hit the nostalgic notes that motivated my original purchase of the console and relaunched my love of cozy titles. Long after the initial fun of swapping recipe cards and resources died down,my roommate and I will still point at an iron bench we see on the street and say, “I have that on my island.”
