As the Animal Crossing franchise hits 20, I recall vast, fond memories of the Gamecube iteration, Wild World for the DS, and New Leaf for the 3DS. Whether it was running errands, grabbing a 200-bell cup of java at Brewster’s, or finding more music from K.K. Slider every Saturday night, the game put me at ease and rewarded the fruits of my labor. One thing I never did though, is changing the date on my system to move items forward in the game artificially.

What are the pros and cons of time-skipping? There are some unique benefits to doing so, enough to make players act in droves. While some shops go under construction, the skip allows players not to have to wait real-time days for more accessibility. Some bugs and fish only spawn at specific points in the day, certain weather conditions, certain seasons, etc. Some people only have a small fraction of their day to play the game, so the skip lets them get more tangible progression.

Yet what is the cost of this? The town or island will be full of weeds. For longer skips, villagers will act as if you haven’t spoken to them in weeks or months. A botched skip could mean a big progression block and a visit from Resetti. Utmost, though, are the moral implications; the rewarding feeling I felt throughout my childhood was thanks to my patience and persistence in playing this game the usual way.

I can’t fault players for performing time-skips. While there is so much to do in Animal Crossing, there are some progression-blockers that can get in the way of some of the enjoyment. The series limits itself in this way. Completionists will be spending months upon months playing without skips, and a small percentage of that time with them. While I err towards playing as the game intends, I will not look down on time-skippers, as their methodology contributes towards their enjoyment.

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