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Animal Crossing is probably one of the best-known social sim video game franchises out there, with the original coming out in 2001 on the Nintendo 64. Since then, it’s gone through many iterations, but the most recent version on the Switch is the most popular, and it’s called New Horizons. If you’ve seen all the buzz around it but haven’t picked it up, now is an excellent time since Best Buy has it discounted down to $40 from the usual $60.

If you’re not familiar with life and social simulation games in general, you’re going to enjoy picking this game up, considering it’s at the forefront of these types of games. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has you start by buying a getaway package to a far-off island, and once you reach there, you’re given a tent, a few supplies, and essentially left to your own devices. From there, you can go around harvesting food, getting items, and, more importantly, building up your little island with houses and inhabitants.

You can also do various activities, such as bug hunting, fishing, planting and harvesting trees, and even crafting things like furniture and decorations. Throughout this, you earn bells, the currency of the world, which allow you to buy a nicer house and expand from there. As you do, anthropomorphic animals will come and settle on your island, and you can interact with them, build relationships, and even buy and sell things with them, so it’s a lot of fun all around. There’s even a sort of endgame, where your island is rated on a star system based on your progress, and after you hit three stars, there’s an event followed by credits. That being said, you can keep playing as long as you want, and are given access to even more features, such as a terraforming system.

Overall, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a type of relaxing game that you can pick up, play for a bit, and put down without feeling the need to be on top of it constantly, and with the discount from Best Buy bringing it down to $40, it’s the perfect time to pick it up. If Animal Crossing doesn’t seem like your jam, you can check out our other Nintendo Switch game deals or our general Nintendo Switch deals.

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