'Animal Crossing' is a well-known video game franchise licensed by Nintendo that has captured the hearts of kids and grown-ups alike since its initial conception. However, as popular as it has always been, it has become even more widespread and relevant this time around with its most recent release, 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' for the Nintendo Switch. In the game, you settle on a deserted island with a cast of adorable little critters and are tasked with transforming it into a tropical paradise. Most 'Animal Crossing' installments have been the type of game you pick up roughly once per day, then set aside after an hour or two until tomorrow rolls around. However, given the current situation we've found ourselves in, 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' has become something far more prominent in our lives.

The game's pleasant monotony, charming atmosphere, and addicting gameplay - plus the fact that it operates in real time - all serve to make it a necessity for anyone in quarantine who's in dire need of something that'll help pass the time. Why waste away sitting around when you could be planting flowers in a virtual landscape? Most importantly, though, the game has a multiplayer feature that has managed to bring people together in a time when we couldn't feel farther apart from one another.

The above players, for example, found a way to celebrate their wedding despite its cancellation as a result of the nationwide pandemic. 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' allows those who are unable to commemorate milestones like this to work around it and find other ways to do so, even if it's not quite what they'd initially planned. Some players have even celebrated birthday parties in the game since their birthdays happened to coincide with the quarantine, and others have gone as far as proposing to each other on their virtual islands!

Nintendo Switch consoles are sold out nearly everywhere due to this game's newfound surge of popularity, and it's difficult not to see why. Sure, the game itself is a blast, but it's more than that. Even people who don't typically play video games are scrambling to grab a copy. The fact of the matter is, 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' is a medium through which we can be with our loved ones no matter how far away they may seem. Right now, a lot of us are sad and lonely and afraid. Sad because something special that we were looking forward to was canceled or postponed indefinitely because of the virus. Lonely because we're trapped at home without those we care about. Afraid because we aren't sure how long this will last or if there's even an end in sight. But for now, one thing that's helped us cope with these feelings and rise above them is coming together and turning sour lemons into sweet, sweet lemonade.

So call up your friends, hop onto one of your islands, and find something to celebrate. Maybe it's your senior prom, maybe it's a birthday, or maybe it's just a chill get-together you've been itching to have. Whatever the case, 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' is just the thing you need to take your mind off the bad and replace it with some good.