Animal Crossing: New Horizons Online Exhibition Opens With Player Diaries

Back in December, the UK’s National Video Game Museum announced their latest project: documenting and archiving the first year of the global pandemic, through the lens of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Nine months later, the exhibit is ready, and it’s gorgeous, with Animal Crossing-style art, player stories, and plenty of images that act as windows into other people’s play.

The main part of the exhibition — which you can find on the Animal Crossing Diaries website — is the stories, and they range from exploring fashion in pixels, to creating games within the game, and even feature players representing their own cultural heritage on their deserted islands.

It’s a touching tribute to the game that dominated the first few months of the lockdown, becoming a cultural, historical moment all of its own.

The stories are divided into five themes: Keeping A Routine, Making Your Space, Representing Yourself, Sharing Creativity, and Staying In Touch, at least one of which you can probably relate to yourself.

There’s also a timeline of Animal Crossing in-game events, an oral history of the game, and the background of how it was made — all in all, a pretty informative exhibition. It’s just like going to a real-life museum, except with no gift shop.

For a little more background on the exhibition, you should read this feature by Jay Castello on The Verge, where they interview the people behind the exhibition to find out where it came from, and where it’s going.

What are your best Animal Crossing: New Horizons stories? Let us know in the comments below!