In the past week, you will inevitably see screenshots of an idyllic game on Weibo and circles of friends, everyone The issues discussed are also surprisingly consistent and full of realistic meaning: How much is left in the mortgage Finished ? What is today ’s rutabaga selling price? What is it? Has the house been renovated? How about the style of clothes design? Have you caught a catfish?

This may be the first time that “Animal Friendship Association” has raised such high popularity in China, but in fact, even if it looks globally , This popularity is still not to be underestimated. According to the historical works Distribution Forecast, worldwide Currently apparently there are already millions of players” on the island In order to start a new life in another world.

Onlookers wondered why a game with cartoon screens and boring mechanics would attract so many people. After all, after entering the game, players just go to plant, mine, fish, and interact with their neighbors every day. exchange for money Buy furniture decoration, dressing yourself and repaying the mortgage, it seems to be some repetitive labor, and you have to watch the day in real time It ’s sunset

But what many people overlook is that for those recent You ca n’t go out yet. For the players trapped indoors, the “Animal Sen Friendship” game gives them an opportunity to “escape from cruel reality”.

“Due to the epidemic, my fiance and I were forced to cancel the planned wedding, but my good friends I was pleasantly surprised in “Animal Friends”: a virtual wedding was held on the island.

This is what the player ashmush wrote on the Reddit forum.See the simple scene laid by roses and love. At present, the post has become one of the hottest content in the Reddit forum: more than 2,800 likes and 225 comments, most of them sent sincere blessings to this special “wedding”.

New Yorker’s author Simon Parkin < / a> After experiencing the game, he said that Dawson connected him with his girlfriend who was in a different place: “My girlfriend is not a keen gamer, but even she is now in this virtual We have found a place to live in the world. We now often give gifts and notes to each other in the game. In a way, they are as precious as a necklace or a bottle of perfume. “

More people will pursue simple fun in the game, for example, go fishing on the island together, or go to the museum to admire the dinosaur fossils just dug out yesterday; of course, some people will be addicted to costume making and DIY hand-drawn drawings; Others will open their own island as an online gathering place among friends, just like when children were young, they always used the wasteland near a swing in a park as a secret base.

To a certain extent, the introduction of virtual identities and the online social mode that can gather players, Dyson will indeed be more closely related to the real world than other types of games. Compared to the slightly mechanized gameplay itself mentioned above, players will value the opportunity to interact and interact with NPCs and other players in the game.

Not to mention at this particular point in time, for many people who have been affected by the epidemic, or even already injured, An excellent healing direction the game does bring healing injury

If you browse the reviews on the rating website Metacritic, many media or users will take the harmony, tranquility, and inefficiency embodied by the moving forest Carefree, contrasted with the harsh reality caused by the epidemic.

Exaggeration One point say, this is is now urgently needed by players A space that allows you to temporarily forget everything about reality and not be bound by complicated worldly rules. You can make whatever you like.Things, find fellows, friendly exchanges.

Of course, don’t worry about getting a virus.

Producer Hiroshi Nogami also mentioned in an interview that he did not expect such a thing to happen before the game was released (referring to the outbreak):

“The bad news I see every day makes me frustrated, but because of this, I hope that the players of” Dongsen “can treat the game as an escape and let themselves be here. Enjoy the game in the most difficult times. “

According to his understanding of the current real environment, rather than players actively entering the moving forest game, they might as well “escape” from the past. After all, only hereIn a virtual world, I can enjoy a rare and valuable life in the moment.

He also added that this will be a game that you want to enjoy with other people. Everyone will get together to talk and share their experiences: “So this time we have made the game available in the global market at the same time. The players are out of touch. “

The reality is indeed the same, whether it is a comment under the screenshot of Weibo or circle of friends, or two or three friends in reality Face-to-face communication, everyone will share some interesting experiences in the game: Which fish or bug sells at the highest price? What are some surprising new actions? There is another question as cruel as reality. How much worse is your mortgage? Oh it’s okay, there is a higher one to finish this, you can’t finish it.

Dongsen is not the only fire game recently. As the epidemic has spread to many countries and regions around the world, the home phenomenon caused by leaving home has also indirectly driven players to play almost all online games. Potential demand for the platform.

Statistics from the third-party database SteamDB show that Steam, the most mainstream gaming platform on the PC, is already connectedFor the next two weekends, it set a record of 20 million players online at the same time, and among them, the actual number of players playing in the game was 6-7 million. is also the same as before the platform Numbers never reached .

On the console platform, the “Eating Chicken Mode” of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” was recently launched. It attracted nearly 6 million players on the first day, and broke through to 30 million in 10 days, which also surpassed it. Last year’s “Apex Hero” has become the fastest growing “eating chicken game”.

Of course, this “contrarian rise” situation was staged once in China in February this year.

According to the analysis agency App Annie , China Mobile The weekly average weekly downloads of the game have increased by 80% compared with the annual average weekly downloads in 2019; the average weekly downloads of the App Store have reached 63 million, which is an increase compared to January 2020 25%.

Some people worry that the epidemic may have an irreversible impact on human collective social life. When more and more people choose to shrink back to their own world, accustomed to shrinking in quilts and small rooms full of games, they may naturally fall into it. Social isolation from .

But at the moment, whether it’s moving forest, call of duty, or other games, they are all about maintaining people and Communication ties between people and even community relationships exist-after all, where you stay is not a real “island”, in the virtual world, nothing is impossible.

Image source: Nintendo Enthusiast