Of course, there are many players who still enjoyAnimal Crossing: New Horizons(ACNH), even though the game is now over five years old. Yet, many fans have been disappointed for quite a while thatACNHstopped getting content updates years ago, and now hope a new game will be announced for the Nintendo Switch 2 soon. Unfortunately, that isn’t the biggest problem that this cozy and relaxed game has, as the joys that come fromACNH’s experience have been diminished by a small demographic of players who figured out how to cheat the system.
All games inevitably have players who come up with ways toexploit the game systemsor find other ways of cheating. In primarily single-player games, likeAnimal Crossing, this controversial habit can be viewed in several different ways. However, ultimately,finding ways to cheat inACNHonly serves to take away from the main point of the game.ACNHis all about the gradual process of collecting, discovering, and relaxing. So players who utilize Treasure Islands are really only hurting themselves in the long run.
What Are Treasure Islands?
Islands Where Players Can Find Items, Bells, Nook Miles Tickets, And More, Quickly
Treasure Islands are islands that players have made, which are filled with in-game items, Bells, Nook Miles Tickets, and morefor other players to come and collect. They offer a quick and easy way for people to get DIY recipes or fill out their catalogs of items, get bells to get rich, or otherwise find anything they may want for their islands, with the only limitation being how much pocket space the visiting player has.
Often, these islands are entirely flat and are filled with things for people to take, and have set rules for how players should act, including leaving through the airport, not dropping items on the island, and more. They can be useful, but they entirely defeat the purpose of the game.
How Treasure Islands Killed Animal Crossing
They Make It Easy… But Perhaps Too Easy
Animal Crossinggames are designed to be a slow process. It is supposed to take time to earn enough Bells to pay off Tom Nook, and even longer to accumulate a catalog of items that are in the game. Decorating a beautiful themed island is something to be proud of, not just because of the decorating style, but also because of the work that goes into getting everything needed for it.
Treasure Islands take away from this. Sure, quickly getting every item needed for thatperfectly decorated outdoor spaceis enticing, butimmediately having everything available makes the final result less special. These are things that should take months or even years to accomplish, and yet the Treasure Islands can allow players to shorten the time needed down to minutes. Then, after the decorating is done, what’s left? Most players will then get bored and stop playing.
The Next Animal Crossing Needs A Sure-Fire Way To Stop Treasure Islands
Animal Crossing On The Switch 2 Could Stop This
Having online functionality to visit friends' islands or show off a beautifully decorated area is a wonderful addition toACNH, and something that will hopefullycome to the nextAnimal Crossinggameas well. However,Nintendo needs to figure out a way to stop players from creating Treasure Islandsfor the Switch 2’s entry, for the sake of keeping players from skipping all the best parts of the experience.
It is fun to share some items with others, or to find that missing color for an item on another island, but instantly getting everything ruins the long-term playability.
There will always be players who figure out ways to cheat in any game,Animal Crossingincluded, and really this is a relatively small problem compared to the cheating in other games which can happen. Being a solo game, if people want to skip the gameplay to decorate how they want, it isn’t really hurting anyone else. But, it could be hurting their own enjoyment by erasing that burst of joy you get when naturally finding a desired item while playing, as well as taking away any reason to continue playingAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.
