In the game, you can work towards having the best home or you can take it slow and enjoy island life. Either way, the player achieves this through small, everyday acts. This could be watering plants, de-weeding the island or catching fish for the local museum. Winning is not the goal! In usual times, this could have been a way for players to relax with a slow, low-stakes game. But the start of the pandemic created a huge change in people's everyday routines.
Faced with an uncertain day to day life in lockdown, players turned towards the game for an escape. If you couldn't find a comforting routine in real life, the game could provide. For many players, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was not a comforting distraction. It saved 2020.