The release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons couldn’t have been better timed, very specifically for me. The Christmas before, my partner bought me a Switch, and for about a decade before that, the only console I’d owned was a modded Wii because I’d sold the roughly two dozen systems I’d collected in an effort to reset my relationship with gaming.
But there was also the fact that just days before, I was furloughed from my job at a brewery because of a pandemic and businesses throughout my city had shut down. I spent hundreds of hours paying Tom Nook his blood money, gaming the turnip market and carefully laying out my island, complete with a theme park and a Halloween land. My partner played, too, and after a short while, I bought her a Switch Lite and a copy of New Horizons, and playing together may have kept us sane.
Now, if it wasn’t clear enough from the headline, this is a deal post. I wanted the excuse to write about Animal Crossing, especially now that my kid, who was too young to get it then, is very into it and I’m playing again. The deal is at Walmart, and it’s for a Nintendo Switch Lite with a download of Animal Crossing: New Horizons bundled in for $179.99. The bundle is usually $199.99 (that’s the price at Target right now), and according to the price tracker Honey, this is the cheapest it’s been in the last 120 days.
And look, this game is wonderful, and the Switch Lite, despite not being able to dock to your TV (though you can find ways to do it online if you’re adventurous and don’t mind voiding your warranty), is charming in its own ways. If you’ve never gotten on board, this is a great time to do so.
