Animal Crossing’s new update has revived my pandemic sanctuary

After years away revisiting my abandoned island uncovers new features, old memories and the quiet reassurance that you can go home again

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Nintendo's pandemic-era hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons got another major update last week, along with a 5 Switch 2 upgrade that makes it look and run better on the new console. Last year, I threw a new year's party for my children in the game, but apart from that I have barely touched my island since the depths of lockdown, when sunny Alba was my preferred escape from the monotonous misery of the real world. Back then, I spent more than 200 hours on this island. Stepping out of her (now massive) house, my avatar's hair is all ruffled and her eyes sleepy after a long, long time aslumber.

I half-expected Alba to be practically in ruins, but it's not that bad. Aside from a few cockroaches in the basement and a bunch of weeds poking up from the snow, everything is as it was. The paths that I had laid out around the island still lead me to the shop, the tailors, the museum; I stop by to visit Blathers the curatorial owl, and he gives me a new mission to find a pigeon called Brewster so that we can open a museum cafe. It's been four years and eight months!" exclaims one of my longtime residents, a penguin called Aurora. That can't be right, can it? Have I really been ignoring her since summer 2021? Thankfully, Animal Crossing characters are very forgiving. I get the impression they've been getting along perfectly fine without me.