Give me advice on what to do, please

[snewnorizons]

So I got ACNH on release day, but for unrelated reasons I fell into a depressive spiral and stopped playing just a few days after release. I've recovered from that, but I've never really picked ACNH back up.

I want to start playing again, but I'm trying to decide on how to do it:

• Do a one year challenge for 2021 (and keep playing beyond 2021 if I'm still enjoying it)
• Keep playing on my release-date island that I've only played for a few days
• Reset, but TT back to 3/20/2020, and try to recreate what actually playing every day would've been like and slowly TTing forwards until I catch up to real time

I have a few questions, though:

• Do any of these options mean having permanently missed anything? Which ones, and what?
• Have I permanently missed anything regardless?
• What other considerations should I make in deciding which option to pick?
• Which one do you think I should pick?

 

[tajikey]

I'd select option 1.

As far as answers to your questions, I'll keep them simple:
1. The only things you would have missed are post-update gifts Nintendo sent through the mail, but otherwise, nope, you will not have missed anything.
2. Nope.
3. None that I can think of.
4. See above

 

[Sara?]

Im happy to hear you are feeling better !!

This is a very personal situation and you will receive a lot of different perspectives, I personally would pick up the game from where you left it even though you only played a couple of days the reasons:

- Its a beautiful start date.
- You probably didn't have time to decorate or terraform much or at all, so its like you would have a new game
- what every you have missed you will be able to get it through trades or the next in game year
- If you only played a few days then your game is pretty virgin so to say, so there is probably no need to restart it if you are happy with where the town hall is located and the color of your airport

Therefore if you asked me i would say pick up where you left and dont TT, but again thats me

 

[Auntie]

If you're worried about things you've missed, I would suggest TT back to release date. You can move forward however quickly you want (maybe compile a list of events you want to hit and skip to them so you're not playing every day between).

 

[ReeBear]

I’d probably lean towards option 1/starting a new island if you won’t have attachments to your original one. The community here are lovely - I got acnh a fair few months after release so missed a bunch of in game events but have picked up a lot on the forum, especially with so many generous giveaways and item dumps ~
Also a side note, acnh can be a nightmare when it comes to comparing yourself to others, so do whatever you find most fun and look after yourself

 

[Furrton]

I took several months of a break, and came back. I thought it would feel weird, but it was refreshing. And no one moved away or changed. There are lots of people here you can trade with or go at your own pace. I have some of the seasonal type things but am not sure what I have missed. The seasonal events and decorating/changing parts of my island make it feel alive. Good luck!

 

[Darkina]

Just my two cents: I would start playing from today with either your original island or a reset island - whichever you choose. If you go back in time and try to catch up, you will get exhausted and not enjoy the game. I didn't play for a month, and then TT'ed back to my last play date and played through the month. By the end, it wasn't very much fun. I was just getting through the days to finish catching up. And then, because I was exhausted from catching up, I didn't play AC for a little while. Also, it's more fun to play the seasonal events with the community, so you can play the Toy Doy event with everybody right now.

You did miss a lot this year, but it will all come back around and you can play it then! To me, Animal Crossing is a beautiful, fun and leisurely SIM. Don't stress about missing out - everything comes back around and the community is still hyped and strong here at TBT, so you'll still have a community to play with. I never seem to collect all the DIYs with each event, but I figure I can collect the missing ones when the event rolls around again.

And I totally agree with @ReeBear re: don't compare yourself to others. I find that when I visit a bunch of different islands, I stress less. That's because there are a ton of beautiful islands out there, and every single one is so different! It makes me realize that it's a huge sandbox with so many choices - there's not a single right path, just lots of individuals creating. Have fun, take your time, and create what resonates with you.

Edit: grammar

 

[snewnorizons]

If you're worried about things you've missed, I would suggest TT back to release date. You can move forward however quickly you want (maybe compile a list of events you want to hit and skip to them so you're not playing every day between).

If I choose to TT back to release date, I think I'm gonna play every in-game day - I know that seems like a lot, but the only things I'll be spending a significant amount of time on are the first few days, events, and maybe some time in any old day per season to do seasonal stuff. Other than that, I'll probably just be doing dailies (hitting the money rock and stuff) and moving on to the next day.

 

[snewnorizons]

just opened up my old animal crossing island. it was... weird. like snooping through the house of a dead person. i'm definitely resetting.

 

[Serabee]

Personally, I'd do #3- because I've done it before! That way you'll be able to build up your island while experiencing the various events you missed, which is a favorite part of playing for me at least ☺