BENGALURU: This week I played a game called Assemble with Care. It was created by the same developers as the extremely popular aesthetic puzzle-solving game called Monument Valley. The game was about a woman who travelled the world ‘fixing old sentimental objects of people, while inadvertently fixing their lives’. Assemble with Care (AwC) however, didn’t give me the elitist satisfaction of a puzzle solve in Monument Valley.
AwC seemed more like a game built for kids, with an attempt to make it relatable by adding a sentimental storyline in-between the light-puzzles. It had as much effect as gulping sugar after you have just eaten a brilliantly ripe yellow mango. I could not taste the sentiment.The reason I played AwC despite knowing it would probably be a waste of an hour, was because I do not currently have a Nintendo Switch. Not having a Nintendo Switch has several associated disadvantages. One, you end up trying colourful new indie games to have a taste of the positivity linked with a game like Animal Crossing. Two, you realise that none of these small colourful indies (all summed up) will ever be the same as Animal Crossing. And three, you cannot actually play Animal Crossing.
Of course, most of the yearning lies in not being able to play the game — so here are some facts about the game that might dissuade the reader from saving up to buy a Nintendo Switch! First, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a life simulation game. The clock and seasons in the game run based on real life. Reader, I reiterate that we move to videogames to have infinite lives, and not a second life based on reality. Second, the game starts with the player moving to a deserted island.
Reader, again — I need not remind you that we are all deserted islands on our own in these times. Third, the game has anthropomorphic animals. Alright, point to Animal Crossing on this one. I would love to be in a world where I have animal friends. Fourth, the Pocket Camp version is available to iOS users only, in a few countries. Reader, it is not in our interest to support these games that breed such unnecessary exclusivity.
We cannot grieve over something that we have not played — so let us not pine over a game that does not show us an ending and focuses just on the slow journey. But I have a solution. If we play SIMS and Stardew Valley alternately, we might be able to blur our perception just enough to feel like we are playing Animal Crossing.(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)