I'm an idiot apparently: Playing *Animal Crossing* for the very first time

This game is famous and has been out for a very long time. I never played it because I never had a system that it existed on or if I did, I was unaware of it. At first glance it doesn't seem like something I would be interested in and this kept me away.

Recently someone allowed me to borrow their Nintendo Switch and a the only game that was packed in with it was Animal Crossing. While I am waiting for other games to be given to me this is the only one I have access to and it has been giving me a lot more trouble than a game that appears as though it was designed for kids should. Maybe I am just dumb

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Touted as a "relaxing" and "cute" game, Animal Crossing is a sim-type game where you build structures from materials found on this island and build up your town over time. I played the game last night for the first time ever expecting it to seriously hold your hand as you carry on through the beginning stages of the game only to be kind of surprised about how involved it actually is.

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For starters, and this is going to make me seem idiotic, you are thrust out the door and basically given zero objectives. There are a bunch of trees with fruit and what not in them but hell, I wasn't even told what I am supposed to do with them. So I figured out that one of the buttons shakes the trees and the stuff in them falls to the ground. Naturally this resulted in me shaking everything out and picking up all of it until my pockets were full. Then I ate a bunch of the fruit until it told me I can't eat anymore. Awesome. NOW WHAT?

I eventually went and talked to some NPC's, which is something I normally avoid doing in most games and they kind of gave me some sort of objective of needing to build items to progress in gathering more materials. One of the things I needed was tree branches so I went and shook a bunch of trees until that happened. Then I needed a stone. Luckily for me I already had one in my pockets but no recollection of where I got it from. After building, and quickly breaking my new basic axe, I needed more stone to build another one but again, had no idea where to get it.

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As it turns out this is a very common problems with new players to the point where there are dozens of YT videos addressing this problem. So that made me feel good that I am not the only moron on the planet. Here is one of those videos where the creator doesn't do a great deal of subscriber farming and just gets straight to the point.

I have a feeling that similar dead ends are going to happen to me on a regular basis. I really don't want to be referring to the internet every time that I cant find a resource so I hope the game isn't like this all the way through. Then again though, I have heard that this game doesn't really have an end, just like Minecraft doesn't have an end either. You just keep building and building and building until the end of time just like we did many years ago in SimCity and later in The Sims. I suppose a game like this has a purpose for people wanting to just chill and do something that doesn't require pinpoint accuracy and tons of tries at a particular level where a slight deviation from "the way" results in failure.

I can't say that I am going to stick to this game for very long but in the meantime I didn't even pay for the Switch and I am just borrowing it as a trial from my friend until I decide if I actually do want to buy it from my friend. I'm not sold on it just yet, but they are giving me some Metroid and Zelda games later on today and I would imagine this will likely hold my interest a bit more.

If you have played Animal Crossing and enjoyed it, I'd love to hear about your experiences. I will likely just keep this next to my bed and play for an hour or so before bed. It doesn't seem to me like the kind of game that I am going to obsess over especially since I rarely do any sort of online play, if that is even a part of this game. I have no idea.

I will say that playing this game that looks like it is for children and being super lost in the process was kind of insulting to me or maybe, I'm just not very good.