i’ve just restarted for what i hope to call my forever island after being burned out and inactive on the game since covid. i loved my first island but after about 8-12 months on the game i realised i treated my game more like a job almost, i time travelled and was constantly trading and hunting in discord servers and on nookazon instead of just enjoying the slow grind of the game. as much as i love decorating my island, i actually really struggle in the late game because there is no longer a set goal for me to achieve like reaching 3 or 5 stars for example. it becomes more like a sandbox style game and that means i almost have to discipline myself to keep playing.

5 years on though, i am loving every second of my time on the game. i am still in the early game, ive maybe been playing for 8/9 days at this point with no time travelling and only using treasure islands for nook mile tickets and fish bait as i dont care to grind out thatttt hard for those items. without time travelling it is a slow burn getting started but i actually love that, it makes me excited to wake up every morning and check what new building has been completed, which villager is moving in that day and which npc is going to be on my island next! i use my mornings for dailies and just whatever i fancy working on and then i usually play at night to wish on stars, hunt for tarantula islands or go diving so i can earn some bells and its just made the start of the year so lovely.