Games like Animal Crossing and the newly released Pokémon Pokopia are meant to be relaxing, but the way some people play them, you’d think they were a competitive esport. Pokopia has been out for less than two weeks, and every day I see some incredible engineering feat someone has devised in the game, while my Pokémon are living in makeshift homes that look like solitary confinement cells. It’s enough to make a grown man get discouraged and put the game down entirely. But then, one of these cutie patooties tells me how much they love their big box of a home and you remember what you’re doing this for.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t look to other players as inspiration if you want to. After all, you have all the same tools at your disposal that they do, and sometimes you don’t even know what’s possible until you see someone else’s creation. But also, you shouldn’t use anyone else’s progress and creations as some kind of litmus test for what you should have already accomplished, because not everyone has the same priorities. I was immediately drawn into Pokopia’s post-apocalyptic mystery, so I kind of rushed my way through the main story to see what resolution awaited me at the end. Meanwhile, there are people who are still vibing in the first map because slowly curating a nice space for their Pokémon is what speaks to them.
One of the most true-to-life aspects of the life sim genre is that these games are often designed to be taken at your own pace. If you spend all your time comparing yourself to others, you’ll never be happy with what you’ve got and you will inevitably feel deflated when your busted town doesn’t look like the well-oiled machines you see other people posting online. Much like with social media, comparison is the thief of joy, and there’s nothing happening in the game itself that is pressuring you to create something as elaborate as a self-running city or a massive mansion for Charizard to sleep in. That pressure is self-inflicted, fueled by looking at people who have spent more time with Pokopia or games like it and went in ready to create something unimaginable in scale.
Sometimes when I boot up Pokopia I’m overwhelmed by all the things I’m still not happy with in my town. There are potholes that need to be filled, I want to give my Pokémon citizens real shelter instead of having them just hanging out in tall grass, and there are still so many monsters I haven’t found yet. When it comes to video games, my brain is hardwired to seek out goals to finish, and that means games like Pokopia, which are meant to be lived in and can be a bit meandering at times, are sometimes difficult for me to commit to. It’s especially hard when I’m seeing creations I wouldn’t even know how to begin building. But then, one of my Pokémon friends comes running over excited, thanks me for the toy I left in their patch of grass, and gives me a gift for all my hard work. Maybe I don’t need an elaborate city that runs itself if these little guys are content as they are. If they’re happy to be here, I can be, too.
