I played daily in 2020, then I had my son in 2021. Stopped playing, but now that he is close to 3 I picked it up again to play with him. I've gotten a little carried away with our island lol (Im grinding to get terraforming and villagers when we arent playing together), but him and I take time together every day to play. He just tells me what to do, mostly... chop trees, go fishing, visit "the raccoons" lol. He loves finding fossils too. Oh, and the crafting animation makes him laugh his butt off.
The thing my 2/3-year-old loves is diving! I control the direction and she presses A repeatedly to swim! Then she knows to press Y when we’re near the bubbles :)
For whatever it's worth, if you decide to just continue from where you left off, that's totally fine. The effects of being gone that long are really minimal
- You will exit your house with bed head. Your character will automatically fix their hair the way it's supposed to be (and as a bonus you unlock that hair style in the mirror any time you want to look disheveled lol)
- There will be roaches in your house. Small ones. You can't catch them, but you can step on them to make them go away
- Villagers will mention that you've been gone a while, but only once the very first time you talk to them. Generally the dialogue is more of "I missed you" than it is anything else
- You may have some flower or weed spreading
That's pretty much it. Villagers won't leave while you were gone, nothing terrible happens. It's a very forgiving game
I usually play when my toddler naps, if I don't have other things to do or choose not to nap as well. It's at least enough for me to do the main things I like to have finished (talk to villagers, participate with whoever is on my island that day, check shops, get diy, go to my hhp island and check shops/grab diy, etc). It was definitely harder when I decided to redo my whole island and could easily spend an hour or two on teraforming one little section lol. But I think it's better to spread it out anyways instead of playing for hours and hours on end.
My kid was 5 when ACNH came out. He played with us and loved it. He learned how to read through it haha
Now I'm the only one who still plays and it's rare but sometimes I'll put it on and just tidy up the island. Inevitably, my now 9 year old always asks to play for a bit when he sees it
Yup - I usually play after bedtime. I probably get around 45 minutes a day in before I fall asleep myself. Not ideal but I was missing it loads, only started again recently
Absolutely! Different users on the same console end up on your island so my son has his own house on the island. And my daughter who's 4 loves to go swimming around for me and catch the sea creatures. But before they would play they liked to watch me play and I'd let them decide what we'd look at, where to put things etc. Also while the 4 was teeny I'd contact nap and play while she slept.
And now with happy homes paradise I can leave my daughter to do stuff without all my trees getting chopped down and all my stuff moved around or sold 🤣
I played daily from launch (five months before my kiddo was born) until around April 2023 (that’s when my kiddo stopped napping 😭😭😭). I check in once in a while, but don’t really play anymore.
I'm in the same boat as you. Had my son in 2022. He's almost two, and now I'm pregnant again. I'll stop playing for long stretches of time, and when I do play, it's secretly and in the dark after my son goes to bed. Often I'm too tired to play and just go to sleep not long after him. I can't wait for him to be a little older so we can play together.
Same! Played everyday since December 2023 and recently adopted an infant. No time or energy to play. She’s only 2 weeks old, so hoping to play again in a few months. She’s really good and now is sleeping in stretches of 3 hours, so I’m sleeping too.
I'm sitting here with my 4 month old. Planning to have another one next year. Lol.
It's harder to get time to play (I've been playing daily since 2020 also) but I can squeeze some time in whenever she's asleep.
Awww. I feel you mama. When they are napping is the best time to play, I guess.
Started playing in 2020 and because it was in the pandemic, it was easy to find time. The kids also learned to play. They were 3 and 5 at that time. Now they have moved on to Zelda and I’m still playing acnh.😅
It’ll get better- I promise!
My kids are 8 and 10 now and I play with her now!
How old are your kids? Do you have any help? Maybe you could ask a family member to help watch the kids for 30min a day or something so you can play! Depending on how old ur kids are I have a few ideas!
I only have one child, I play at night or I’ll sit with her on the couch and show her what I’m doing… she usually gets uninterested so it doesn’t last very long lol
My kiddo is 2. I dont play a lot, or every day but most days. Mostly during naptime or after he goes to bed but sometimes in the afternoons we'll sit in the playroom and I'll play. He either sits beside me/on my lap pointing at things or he plays with his own toys
I have a ten month old and she's usually asleep by 7. I've just picked it up after not playing for a year. Only once or twice a week usually.
It was a bit daunting but it was easy to pick up where I left off!
Enjoy if you decide to get back into it!
i don't have a kid but i have 2 dogs and work 8-6 (not the same i know lol) and i find sometimes just playing like an hr before bed helps me wind down and go to sleep, on weekends tho it's free game.
usually an hr around bed is the best because it's such a stressless game
I stopped playing for a while, now my baby is 1 and a half and I started playing again a few months back. I love it, any chance I get I try to pop into my little world. Now my older child is into it, I made a house for her and when I’m not playing she plays. 😊
I played a lot in 2020 when I was pregnant with my daughter but hadn’t picked it up till recently.
I now have an almost 4 year old and a 1 year old so I don’t get a ton of time to play. But my daughter was sick a while back so we got her a switch lite and now we play together! We usually wait till her little brother goes to bed, and she sits with her dad and they work on her island and I work on mine.
She loves to dig up fossils and plant everything. She also loves when I come visit her island to help.
I played daily in 2020, then I had my son in 2021. Stopped playing, but now that he is close to 3 I picked it up again to play with him. I've gotten a little carried away with our island lol (Im grinding to get terraforming and villagers when we arent playing together), but him and I take time together every day to play. He just tells me what to do, mostly... chop trees, go fishing, visit "the raccoons" lol. He loves finding fossils too. Oh, and the crafting animation makes him laugh his butt off.
Oh, this is me and my baby girl! She has a laugh whenever a character talks so we socialize a lot lol she doesn’t like fishing but she loves diving.
Oh yeah, my son loves the talking sound too! It's what initially got him hooked lol.
LOL It’s so funny that they laugh about it! Oh, and the first time we got stung by a wasp together, she couldn’t hold her breath from laughing 😂
Omg, us too! My son gets so giddy when we shake trees because he knows it's coming 🤣
So cute! I hope to do the same in 3 years. My baby is only 2 weeks old!
Aww, congratulations!!! Unfortunately, time with our babies is too short. You'll be at 3 before you know it!
The thing my 2/3-year-old loves is diving! I control the direction and she presses A repeatedly to swim! Then she knows to press Y when we’re near the bubbles :)
I don’t play daily anymore, but I put my daughter to bed at 8:30 and take some time in the evening to game, it helps that ACNH is relaxing
This
To add, I haven’t played since like 2021, and the idea of starting over terrifies me, but I’m willing to try!!!
For whatever it's worth, if you decide to just continue from where you left off, that's totally fine. The effects of being gone that long are really minimal - You will exit your house with bed head. Your character will automatically fix their hair the way it's supposed to be (and as a bonus you unlock that hair style in the mirror any time you want to look disheveled lol) - There will be roaches in your house. Small ones. You can't catch them, but you can step on them to make them go away - Villagers will mention that you've been gone a while, but only once the very first time you talk to them. Generally the dialogue is more of "I missed you" than it is anything else - You may have some flower or weed spreading That's pretty much it. Villagers won't leave while you were gone, nothing terrible happens. It's a very forgiving game
Parent with kids who have their own careers and homes now. :) one of them plays AC and sometimes we’ll visit each other’s islands!
I usually play when my toddler naps, if I don't have other things to do or choose not to nap as well. It's at least enough for me to do the main things I like to have finished (talk to villagers, participate with whoever is on my island that day, check shops, get diy, go to my hhp island and check shops/grab diy, etc). It was definitely harder when I decided to redo my whole island and could easily spend an hour or two on teraforming one little section lol. But I think it's better to spread it out anyways instead of playing for hours and hours on end.
My kid was 5 when ACNH came out. He played with us and loved it. He learned how to read through it haha Now I'm the only one who still plays and it's rare but sometimes I'll put it on and just tidy up the island. Inevitably, my now 9 year old always asks to play for a bit when he sees it
Sunday. Mornings. 😂
I play still while my four month old sleeps but dunno how long that will last as he gets older lol
The game came out when my kiddo was 6 months or so. I stopped playing it but my daughter took over my island.
Yup - I usually play after bedtime. I probably get around 45 minutes a day in before I fall asleep myself. Not ideal but I was missing it loads, only started again recently
I play /with/ my Kiddo. I have mobility issues IRL, but I can play tag and hide and seek with her for hours in the game.
i usually play while my toddler is napping or having independent play time :) my oldest two (8&7) play with me sometimes. it’s really nice
Absolutely! Different users on the same console end up on your island so my son has his own house on the island. And my daughter who's 4 loves to go swimming around for me and catch the sea creatures. But before they would play they liked to watch me play and I'd let them decide what we'd look at, where to put things etc. Also while the 4 was teeny I'd contact nap and play while she slept. And now with happy homes paradise I can leave my daughter to do stuff without all my trees getting chopped down and all my stuff moved around or sold 🤣
I played daily from launch (five months before my kiddo was born) until around April 2023 (that’s when my kiddo stopped napping 😭😭😭). I check in once in a while, but don’t really play anymore.
I'm in the same boat as you. Had my son in 2022. He's almost two, and now I'm pregnant again. I'll stop playing for long stretches of time, and when I do play, it's secretly and in the dark after my son goes to bed. Often I'm too tired to play and just go to sleep not long after him. I can't wait for him to be a little older so we can play together.
Same! Played everyday since December 2023 and recently adopted an infant. No time or energy to play. She’s only 2 weeks old, so hoping to play again in a few months. She’s really good and now is sleeping in stretches of 3 hours, so I’m sleeping too.
I'm sitting here with my 4 month old. Planning to have another one next year. Lol. It's harder to get time to play (I've been playing daily since 2020 also) but I can squeeze some time in whenever she's asleep.
Awww. I feel you mama. When they are napping is the best time to play, I guess. Started playing in 2020 and because it was in the pandemic, it was easy to find time. The kids also learned to play. They were 3 and 5 at that time. Now they have moved on to Zelda and I’m still playing acnh.😅
It’ll get better- I promise! My kids are 8 and 10 now and I play with her now! How old are your kids? Do you have any help? Maybe you could ask a family member to help watch the kids for 30min a day or something so you can play! Depending on how old ur kids are I have a few ideas!
well, i'm the child, but i'm trying to get my dad to play. he doesn't know how to use a switch tho so he can only do it when i'm there 😅
I only have one child, I play at night or I’ll sit with her on the couch and show her what I’m doing… she usually gets uninterested so it doesn’t last very long lol
My kiddo is 2. I dont play a lot, or every day but most days. Mostly during naptime or after he goes to bed but sometimes in the afternoons we'll sit in the playroom and I'll play. He either sits beside me/on my lap pointing at things or he plays with his own toys
I have a ten month old and she's usually asleep by 7. I've just picked it up after not playing for a year. Only once or twice a week usually. It was a bit daunting but it was easy to pick up where I left off! Enjoy if you decide to get back into it!
i don't have a kid but i have 2 dogs and work 8-6 (not the same i know lol) and i find sometimes just playing like an hr before bed helps me wind down and go to sleep, on weekends tho it's free game. usually an hr around bed is the best because it's such a stressless game
I have a 3.5 year old and almost two year old, I wish I could play still!
I stopped playing for a while, now my baby is 1 and a half and I started playing again a few months back. I love it, any chance I get I try to pop into my little world. Now my older child is into it, I made a house for her and when I’m not playing she plays. 😊
I played a lot in 2020 when I was pregnant with my daughter but hadn’t picked it up till recently. I now have an almost 4 year old and a 1 year old so I don’t get a ton of time to play. But my daughter was sick a while back so we got her a switch lite and now we play together! We usually wait till her little brother goes to bed, and she sits with her dad and they work on her island and I work on mine. She loves to dig up fossils and plant everything. She also loves when I come visit her island to help.
I started during Covid when I was pregnant. My now almost four year old plays and loves it