Two months of おうち時間 (ouchi jikan, time at home) has left many people with the desire to get outside and back to parks, cafes and weekend hikes. A growing number of those people, however, are making do with a game titled あつまれ どうぶつの森 (Atsumare Dōbutsu no Mori, Animal Crossing: New Horizons).

The game, known more colloquially in Japanese as あつ森 (Atsu Mori), came out on March 20 for the Nintendo Switch and falls under the category of シミュレーションゲーム (shimyurēshon gēmu, simulation games) such as The Sims that mimic real-life situations. New Horizons is also the fifth installment in the series, which began with どうぶつの森 (Dōbutsu no Mori, Animal Crossing) in 2001.

In addition to providing a welcome distraction from the 新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大 (shingata koronauirusu no kansen kakudai, spread of infection of novel coronavirus), あつ森 has been a delightful study supplement. Sure, there are the localized quirks — like the fact that recurring character たぬきち (Tanukichi) in known as Tom Nook in English — but I've been particularly taken with the 洒落 (share, puns).