How to be an adult and play AC NH? Looking for advice from other busy grown ups.

[Bulbamander]

So I recently became a Mum and I am on maternity leave. I was really hoping the new Animal Crossing game was going to stick to its original release schedule and come out this side of Christmas. I knew in my heart of hearts it was probably going to be delayed. I'm dissapointed about the delay. I go back to work in January and when I get free time I'm going to be spending it with my little boy, not playing on a video game.

How do other grown ups do it? How do you juggle everything, working full time and being a parent and still find time to do these things? It seems impossible to me right now. I hardly have time for myself as it is.

How much time per day / week do you think you would reasonably need to spend playing the new game in order to properly maintain your Island? My time is so precious. I really want to use this game as my relaxation de stress time.

Also I just wanted to vent my frustration about the change of release date. I guess to most it doesn't matter that much but to me it made all the difference.

So if there are any grown ups out there who understand where I am coming from and can offer any advice please feel free to comment!

 

[peppy villager]

Not a mom, but I am a full time student with a full time office job as well. I think, the biggest thing worth remembering, is that the game is meant to be for fun and enjoyment away from your regular responsibilities. It's not worth stressing over a game that's meant to help you get away from your day to day struggles. You'll find time to play it when you can, maybe your new island wont be as grand or elaborate as your NL or WW or CF towns of the past, but you were likely a kid/teen/young adult then, and you're older now and have responsibilities now and there is nothing wrong with that!

Please don't let yourself worry about this, just enjoy it for what it is: a sweet nostalgic dip into the fun and innocence and simplicity of childhood.

 

[Ossiran]

Set aside time with your significant other as time that is your unwinding/relaxing/game time and time they get to spend with your child. Or time when your child is sleeping that you aren't too exhausted to play.

Since the Switch is mobile, you could take it to work and play during your lunch.

That's really all I can suggest until your child is old enough that that you feel comfortable playing with them watching or playing with you.

 

[Valerie]

Set your clock behind a few hours- that way you can unwind with AC at night without always playing at night.

I have been playing AC, with kids for almost 5 years now. I had to give up daily play and usually do 2-4 days a week. But, picking weeds is fun so, meh.

Being a mom quickly teaches you to not strive for perfection but for operation acceptable- esp after kid #2

Don’t worry! You’ll find time to play. Especially with co-op. Give your kid a controller and enjoy together (once they are older, of course.)

 

[KeatAlex]

Trust me, right now with a new baby you are going to be deprived of free time. It will take some time. Luckily by the time the game is out, your baby should be about a year. This is when you start getting more free time. They are still a handful, but they're easier to control. The things that I have going through my mind about how this will work come next year are doable. (I hope)



Playing during work breaks, while the kids are asleep, before bed. Maybe even waking up a tad earlier. Seems extreme but we can't rule out the possibilities. Mom/Dad takes over for a bit to give you some leisure time.



You will be playing when your child is older enough to get enthralled by the game you're playing so maybe you can let him/her play along?

 

[Scarfy]

I'm sure New Horizons will bring back something like the beautiful town ordinance to make town maintenance easier. I say just enjoy the times you do get to play and take it slow The nice thing about Animal Crossing is there is no rush. And congratulations on becoming a mom!

 

[Boccages]

The first few months with a newborn are quite intensive. They only sleep for 1 hour, two maybe before they wake up for their next milk drink-in, around the clock. You don't get much sleep. And you are changing them 10 times a day. Hopefully, by the time New Horizons comes around your baby will sleep through the night. It might be a good thing it was delayed in your case.

 

[pinkfawn]

Not a mom, but I do go to school full time and work at a veterinary clinic full time. Luckily the clinic has good hours, (8am-4pm M, T, TH, F; 8am-12pm Sat, and off on Wed and Sun) and my classes release the week's work on Monday. Usually I spend 2-3 hours doing homework when I get home, cook dinner, and then have some downtime to watch tv/play games. Some weeks my class load is lighter, so I get the heavy cleaning done on the days I am off and do lighter cleaning in place of homework after work.

I don't usually time travel but I don't think there's any shame in setting the clock back earlier in the day in order to get more stuff done, or have more time to do a festival/event. If you can't play every day, that's okay too. This game shouldn't feel like something you have to add on as a daily chore. Play it your way and play it when you feel like you can. Don't ever feel guilty for taking a break for yourself to do something to relax yourself.

 

[Jason Voorhees]

I gave up my last town because of work.
I kept losing animals because I'd be tired and forget to set the time back, and I got to where I was 2 weeks behind so I demolished it.

I hope this game is a little more self sufficient.

I think if you could opt to make an animal a permanent resident, then you wouldn't have to worry as much about losing any of them.

That would make things easier for us older players.

I also hope the ordinances are still there because I know I won't be watering flowers with my spare time.

 

[tsukune_713]

for me i tend to play games and stuff before going to bed since i usually work somewhere between 7-9am and ending 4-6pm 5-6 days a week it cuts down quite a bit of my time so i dont get to play much
but when the game comes out ill probably wake up slightly early or just play slightly later so i get time to play

 

[cornimer]

I was in high school when I actively played New Leaf, but between an insane workload and extra-curriculars I was just as busy then as I am now as an adult. My Animal Crossing time has always been while I eat breakfast. In high school I would get up 15 minutes earlier than I needed to and then I would spend half an hour eating breakfast and playing AC. It honestly kept me sane, it was like "yeah maybe I have to do homework for six hours after school but at least I got my daily dose of AC already."

 

[DJStarstryker]

Assuming NH works the same as every other AC main game, you really only need 20-30 minutes a few times a week. Obviously you can spend more than that, but it's not mandatory. That gives you enough time to check in with your villagers, make sure any favorites aren't moving away, and to do some work in your town.

Shop hours can be a little bit annoying depending on when you play. Hopefully the shops in NH will have more generous hours or something like the ordinances so you can adjust it if needed. But if you really find yourself playing really early or really late a lot, you may have to change the hours on your Switch so your island will be set to a time where shops are open, even if they wouldn't be during the real-world time.

Honestly, as a busy adult, holidays and special events that only take place on 1 certain day of the year are the toughest. Especially holidays, since many are during real-world holidays where you may be spending it with family and/or on vacation. I don't have any suggestions for that other than you either have to be willing to TT so you don't miss them, or just accept that you may miss some cool events in game when busy with real life sometimes.

 

[xiaonu]

So I recently became a Mum and I am on maternity leave. I was really hoping the new Animal Crossing game was going to stick to its original release schedule and come out this side of Christmas. I knew in my heart of hearts it was probably going to be delayed. I'm dissapointed about the delay. I go back to work in January and when I get free time I'm going to be spending it with my little boy, not playing on a video game.

How do other grown ups do it? How do you juggle everything, working full time and being a parent and still find time to do these things? It seems impossible to me right now. I hardly have time for myself as it is.

How much time per day / week do you think you would reasonably need to spend playing the new game in order to properly maintain your Island? My time is so precious. I really want to use this game as my relaxation de stress time.

Also I just wanted to vent my frustration about the change of release date. I guess to most it doesn't matter that much but to me it made all the difference.

So if there are any grown ups out there who understand where I am coming from and can offer any advice please feel free to comment!

Congrats on your new bundle of joy! Are you me? I was just having this dilemma the other day, frustrated at the delayed date but also wondering if I will even have time. I have a little 3 month old, just got off maternity leave as well. I was hoping for the game to release during that time or at least this year. I thought it is easier to find time to play games since babies nap so much. But since it will be released when my little one is a year old, I feel like there is less time since they are more active, playful and awake during the day. If you can get even an hour or two to yourself while your partner takes a little time with your son, that is the only thing I can think of. I let me husband play games during the weekend while I look after the baby, you could take turns. Just remember AC is a relaxing game so it's rare to be missing out on crazy limited time events like you would in Pocket Camp. That game stressed me out too much. Sometimes you also have to accept things just won't get done. Your sanity is more important than those piles of laundry and clothes. It can be done later. Taking a little time to unwind won't hurt once or twice a week. My coworker said she usually stays up to 12am-1am to make time for games as a parent of a toddler. I know it may not be realistic when you're a sleep deprived parent, but that's just a perspective I learned. When they get older, you can eventually introduce them to the game

 

[lars708]

So I'm not really an adult but when the game comes out I'll have my own apartment, I'll be attending university and I'll have to maintain a relationship. So aside from the having kids part I guess the situation is comparable.

How I think I'll do it is just try to take my Switch with me whenever so if I have 30 minutes to spare I can just play the game. My experience is that it is often actually very possible to find time to do other things. The ''lying down on bed dead'' activity what a lot of people tend to do is *sorry* flat out a time waster. You won't get any actual rest out of it and you're not doing anything either so it's a terrible way to spend your time after a long day of work.

Of course I am not a woman, I never had kids and I will never get pregnant so I can't fully know what it is like. But I am doing my best to rationalize it.

For me, as long that I make sure I don't get less than 7 hours of sleep at the end of a long day I'll be fine the day after. Almost always there will be some time free to play a game. Some days it'll be 2 hours, others only 15 minutes but if you're efficient with your time there are definitely ways to maintain your Animal Crossing town. I know that you said you want to spend time with your newborn and that's perfectly understandable.

At the same time it wouldn't be healthy to keep yourself from enjoying other things in life, you gotta find a balance. Your baby also needs rest so you won't even be busy with him all the time, again, find a balance. That way you don?t have to split your attention between the game and your baby and you also don?t have to sacrifice anything. Personally I do think that it's important that you keep time free to play a game, or if not a game do something else to relax. Life is gonna become very stressful if you keep yourself from enjoyment, it may be the worst possible case but depressions can develop if people remain in situations like that. You have to remember that you too need to stay healthy. Part of that it is blowing off some steam, whether you do that through playing a sport or playing Animal Crossing doesn't matter. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

I have friends (a couple) who both have a fulltime job, work out at the gym, and have two kids to raise. They often start out in the morning at 9am and return home at 6pm. After the kids are put to bed they spend about an hour playing Fortnite or Puyo Puyo together before bed. Of course sometimes they can't do this because of plans they may have made and sometimes they are behind schedule at work and need to work at home to catch up but still, by far most of the time they are able to free that hour to play a game.

Hope this makes sense lol good luck with all your responsibilities!