In uncertain times, the answer is always “cute animal people.”

Animal Crossing is very much one of those games that you won’t understand unless you play it yourself. I know I didn’t understand it, but on a whim, I decided to pick up Animal Crossing: New Horizons for my Switch, and now I totally understand it. From the outside, it just seems like a very basic daily life simulator with some cute characters, and that’s not an incorrect statement. More than that, though, it’s just nice to create a little village from scratch and fill it with friendly people. I think New Horizons‘ success also owes a decent amount to… current circumstances, let’s say, since people probably appreciate some regularity in their lives.

According to the series wiki, Animal Crossing currently has 460 villagers that could come to live in your village/town/island. Everyone has their favorite few, and I know I love all of my villagers. But if you’ve been playing this series long enough, there’s a good chance you can name all of them. Or at least ten of them.