WILL WALKEY, HOST: And now for the latest installment in our series, Voices in the City. Today we hear from someone who is getting through quarantine with a little help from Animal Crossing. The Nintendo Switch game was released on March 20th and has become a quarantine escape for many in the United States.
KAY XIE: The very first thing I do in the morning is usually play Animal Crossing. Here we go, turn on my switch. ((beep))
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MEGAN CATTEL, BYLINE: Kay Xie, who lives in the actual neighborhood Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
XIE: The game came out during my first week of working from home.
You start off the game as a childlike character who just got into a new village or town and just basically built out you know, the way you vision your ideal town to look like.
I think I really started to get worried and scared to go outside when news about Asians or Asian Americans in New York start to get verbal attacks on the subway.
I felt a lot of tension when I was on the subway and I knew people purposely stayed away from me when I got on the train.
All the stress and cut down of human interaction really put me into a dark place. But playing Animal Crossing allows me to escape to a different world where I can be anyone I want. Also somehow it was nice to know that many people who are feeling the same way are on Animal Crossing. It felt like I'm part of a group and we are bonded together not because of the game but because of how we feel from the pandemic. I guess you can say it is similar to having a support group in real life.