Citation: Nintendo EPD. (2020). Animal crossing: New horizons (Nintendo Switch edition) [Video Game]. Nintendo.
Animal Crossing was first published by Nintendo in April of 2001 and last released in March of 2020. It’s a social simulation video game in which the player creates a character to live in a village with other characters and animals, and can participate in various village activities like fishing, gardening, and hunting. It features an open-ended style of game play that stimulates the passage of time for the characters and world created.
This video has a calming impact on its players, and for teens to have an open-ended application is a nice change of pace from their often overscheduled, goal-driven activities in the rest of their lives. Teens still need to have time for open-ended play, and this video game offers a teen appropriate way to engage in that free play in a healthy way, if played in moderation. It also offers a nice level of control to its players, as many components of the game are customizable for each play, which can be especially healthy and nice for teens who feel they lack control in other aspects of their life. One downside to this game is a lot of the features need to be bought separately, and teens may feel the need to purchase or collect things they may not have the money for.