Playing A|part Together in Animal Crossing: New Horizons During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This paper explains how Animal Crossing: New Horizons allowed players to “play a|part together” during the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes how this life simulation game helped to fulfill the needs for sociability during the lockdown, based on the conclusions of a collective autoethnography and computer-assisted text analysis. It examines how the game’s affordances helped or prevented players in overcoming physical isolation when they were confined to their house or practicing social distancing. It also investigates the appropriations made by players to tailor the game to their social needs in this unprecedented context.