Disney Dreamlight Valley Is the Animal Crossing-like Game I Needed

ign.com:

I am what you might call a casual gamer. I enjoy playing video games, but I don't always have the time to dive into giant open-world RPGs. It's for this reason that cozy games like Animal Crossing and Disney Dreamlight Valley have always appealled to me. These are titles that you can play at your own convenience for any amount of time and enjoy every second of it. There is a deep comfort in stress-free games like these that always calls to me.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was one of my favorite games when it was first released. The ability to create my own island and slowly complete tasks at a leisurely pace was deeply satisfying. But it only took a few months for me to grow tired of the repetitive gameplay and move on to even newer horizons. Now that Disney Dreamlight Valley has fully captured my attention, I can't help but reflect on how Disney's new life sim has improved on the Animal Crossing model.

It's hard not to acknowledge the similarites between Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Disney Dreamlight Valley. Both games immediately drop you into some sort of fallen paradise and put you to work to fix it up. All of the elements you'd expect from an Animal Crossing game are present in Dreamlight Valley. There's mining, fishing, gathering, crafting, and gardening that you are free to pursue at your leisure. Each of these games also allows for full customization of both your house and the environment you live in.

Beyond the gameplay elements, even some of the character structures are similar. In Animal Crossing, you are basically working for Tom Nook to industrialize your island and attract villagers. In Disney Dreamlight Valley, you are essentially doing the same thing for Scrooge McDuck. While this similarity between