Nintendo Switch’s “Animal Crossing: New Horizons(Atsumori)”.Since its release, players all over the world have fallen in love with this game.As usual, I enjoy my life in the game, and when I play Animal Crossing, I discover a number of ingenuity that the creator has put in place to make the world more enjoyable.
Some of them may help you discover ideas and mechanisms that can be applied in the real world, so in that sense it can be said to be a valuable game.
In this article, we will consider why Animal Crossing is designed to make repetitive tasks inefficient, and introduce ways to apply this feeling to life in the real world.
A DIY clam digging and baiting experience that seems purposefully made to feel like a hassle.
The work that many Animal Crossing players would consider to be a typical simple task in Animal Crossing is the process of digging clams and making bait for fish.
In the game, players can process the materials they have collected into something else as DIY.
The process of making bait for fishing
- Prepare a scoop by DIY or purchase
- Look for clams on the beach and dig them up
- Take the clams to the workbench and make DIY “fish bait”
In particular, the 2nd and 3rd steps of this process, making the scattering bait, must be done for each clam you pick up.Many players who play Animal Crossing may find this task tedious.
Although it is less frequent than steps 2 and 3, the shovel used in step 1 sometimes breaks if you use it a lot to dig up clams, so you need to prepare it each time.
By using the scattered bait made in this way, you can fish effectively.
There are many different types of fish in Animal Crossing, and if you want to catch and collect all types of fish, you will need to do a huge amount of fishing.
However, it is not possible to make bait for scattering unless each clam is processed one by one.For example, in Minecraft, another game famous for its large content of making things, it is also possible to create items by processing multiple materials at once.
Of course, Minecraft has its own inefficiencies and inconveniences.There are probably many inefficiencies in these games that are intentional by the creators.
Add flavor to the experience by making it inconvenient and inefficient
As a game mechanism, it wouldn’t be that difficult to create a game where you can all do the work of making fish food all at once in Animal Crossing.
I believe that by adjusting the system, it would be possible to make a large amount of bait at once and catch a large number of fish all at once.
However, I feel that the production side intentionally did not provide useful functions such as the “Makiesa bulk generation function”.I think the creators thought this would add more flavor to the game experience.
Enjoy more by playing slowly
In the world of Animal Crossing, the types of fish you can catch change greatly depending on the month, time, and location.At the time of writing this article, in June, if you are on an island in the northern hemisphere, you can catch whale sharks in the sea, char in rivers on cliffs, and snakehead in ponds during the day.
On this island, you can catch completely different fish if you change the time and location a little.
If you don’t look up any strategy information and just go fishing as you wish, you may be surprised at times and think, “I can’t believe I can catch an arowana in a place like this!”
Not only can you buy the fish you catch at a store, but you can also donate them to a museum and watch them swim in a large aquarium.If you give it to a specific character, they can make a model based on it.Of course, you can also display it in an aquarium at home or outdoors at your favorite location.
By giving a taste of the experience, you can maintain motivation for simple tasks.
Up to this point, I have introduced fishing as if it were fun, but in reality, each of these experiences is actuallyIt’s not that dramatic, there are probably few people who find it a great pleasure.However, it adds a little sparkle to the seemingly monotonous daily routine, so players end up engaging in the monotonous fishing process over and over again.
If this part is too streamlined, the fishing experience becomes diluted, and the fun and motivation to continue playing the game every day may be diminished.
It’s good that the system is convenient, but as a game that aims to be enjoyed every day in the world of Animal Crossing, making it too convenient and efficient to move around seems to be a departure from the creator’s aim.
Of course, Animal Crossing is a game that undergoes updates, so depending on future user feedback and other circumstances, it is possible that a mechanism will be created that allows multiple DIYs to be done at once.However, no matter what updates come, I feel that they intentionally leave some inconveniences in order to express the unique flavor of the Animal Crossing game experience.
Even in the real world, things can be made easier by making things inconvenient or taking time.
Even in the real world, when we begin to make our work and life more efficient by using to-do lists and schedule management tools, we tend to want to make everything more efficient and tend to have negative thoughts about inefficient actions.However, I think that things may progress better if we dare to break this.
An approach that does not focus on efficiency, but rather makes it enjoyable even if it is inconvenient.
Performing monotonous and inefficient tasks every day is not fun and can be depressing.To solve this problem, aiming for efficiency is often the right way to think and the right way.
However, no matter how efficient you are, there may be times when you cannot proceed smoothly.
In times like these, try following the structure of Animal Crossing.Dare to work in an inconvenient wayHow about that?
Animal Crossing is a game with a mechanism that forces players to perform actions that players who want to efficiently complete in-game events may find somewhat annoying, but there are many mechanisms and productions that allow players to enjoy life and continue doing simple and inefficient tasks.You may be able to get some hints by paying attention to these points while playing.
If you try to be efficient and rush too quickly, you may get bored quickly or feel empty even if you accomplish something.
Most games, not just Animal Crossing, have a system that lets you enjoy the game despite its inefficiency and inconvenience.
If there were ever a game that was ultimately efficient, it would most likely be a game where the ending begins as soon as you start the game.That kind of game won’t be fun, and you won’t feel like playing it the next day.
In real life, it may be worth noting that if you move too efficiently, it may become less enjoyable and it may be difficult to maintain the motivation to continue.
An example of actively experiencing inconvenience and inefficiency
Why not focus on the experiences that are created because of inconvenient systems, the inconvenient systems, and use this as a reference for your own actions?
Let me introduce some common examples.
training diet
Main purpose
- good looking body shape
- Health maintenance and promotion
Example of efficiency
- Performing an intensive training menu that is taxing both physically and financially
- engage in extreme fasting
Examples of inefficiency
- If you walk every day, you can enjoy the changing seasons outside.
- A body that has been built over a long period of time becomes hard to deteriorate with just a little rest.
- By frequently confronting your body, you will become more aware of your health status.
drink coffee
Main purpose
- Wake up from sleepiness
- relaxing effect
Example of efficiency
- Use canned coffee, instant coffee, coffee machines, etc.
Examples of inefficiency
- By roasting and grinding the beans and brewing them carefully, you can tell the difference in taste.
- With a little effort, you can have a good mood change or wake up your sleepiness.
sharpen a pencil
Main purpose
- Make it easier to draw pencil lines
Example of efficiency
- use an electric pencil sharpener
- Use a mechanical pencil instead of a pencil
Examples of inefficiency
- カッターナイフや小刀で削る時間が書く文字や絵に向けての気持ちを高める効果が期待できる
- The unstable shape of the hand-sharpened pencil lead can lead to drawing unexpectedly interesting lines.
For tasks that emphasize continuity, we recommend methods that give you more fun and flavor than efficiency.
Due to the nature of our services, task management partners often make proposals that work efficiently, but we believe that our important role is to maintain a good state over the long term, even if things become temporarily inefficient.
If you feel that even if you try to make a move to improve efficiency, it is not going well, please feel free to contact us.