‘Wherever you are, whether you’re in a house or in your own head, make it comfy.’ — Pascal the Red Sea Otter, Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo 2020)Nintendo’s video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) from its Animal Crossing Series (since 2001) sold up to one million copies per day during its release month of March 20201. Although other games such as ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley (2017) saw a similar boom in popularity, New Horizons was at the forefront of consumer engagement.This was the time of unexpected announcements of lockdowns in many countries as a succession of nations battled the COVID-19 pandemic. Confined to houses, or even single rooms, most members of society were, for the first time, confronted with an enforced stasis — a stark deviation from the capitalist ideal of continuous advancement. Schools were shut and universities cancelled in-person exams and scrapped many summative assessments for the first time. Historically, in-person exams had been held at universities like the University of Cambridge even during the First and Second World Wars. On a forced hiatus from work and study, many consumers suddenly found themselves with all the time in the world to explore other interests. Except this freedom was counterbalanced by the complete loss of control of their space, movement, and even their own bodies as a new-found invisible threat loomed. The general premise of the Animal Crossing series is to allow the player (through their avatar) to carve out a new life for themselves in a cosy community of pixelated animals. Whilst settling into their new town, the player may spend their days fishing, or catching creatures to fill the local museum, planting flowers, designing outfits, or simply having a casual chat with the pink deer who lives next door. Gameplay is ludic in nature (essentially, characterised by playfulness and enjoyment), with players free to create their own goals with no ‘lose’ conditions to weigh down the franchise’s airy tone.New Horizons, the newest release in the series, is set on a deserted island. The island setting is a departure from previous titles in the series, which typically took place in established villages or towns. The game expanded player agency even further, giving them the tools to completely redesign the island. New Horizons also incorporates what appears to be laborious chores. For instance, the game requires players to pull up a seemingly endless number of weeds, chop down and replant trees (to collate the resources necessary for island improvements), and (if they do not wish to spend the entire game living in a tiny tent) the option to pay off their initial debt to Tom Nook, a tanuki (Japanese raccoon-dog) who plays the role of real-estate agent among other roles, and upgrade to a house.In the real world, knowledge of COVID-19’s causality, symptoms, virality, and severity was still very much preliminary in 2020, leaving most consumers to dwell on their anxieties in their bedrooms, questioning if they would catch the virus from even a trip to the supermarket or whilst signing for a package delivery. In the customisable realm of New Horizons, however, players were able to regain a degree of control over their environment. This helped to satisfy ‘various psychological needs — autonomy, relatedness, and competence’2. The game’s cute aesthetic and capacity for creative self-determination have had mental health benefits for players. On the other side of the coin, with regard to the laborious chores, the neologism ‘playbour’, short for ‘playful labour’3, describes the phenomenon of how mundanity also contributed to the game’s success. In the real world these chores may well have had negative connotations, but in-game the simple repetitive act of pushing a button to prompt the player’s avatar to pull a weed becomes a meditative act of play. When viewing the sum of these repetitive movements the individual is filled with a sense of quiet satisfaction — a sense that ‘I haven’t done much, but I’ve made a difference’ .The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in demand for playbour-based games. Throughout the lockdown, new online communities were created as players shared gameplay tips and designs on the internet. Many held graduation ceremonies, parties, and even political rallies on their New Horizons islands. Despite an extremely uncomfortable reality, consumers were able to create their own comfort by living a fantastical version of daily mundanity.