A new survey released by Nintendo of America and The University of Oxford hopes to explore the correlation between Animal Crossing: New Horizons game time and players' mental wellbeing.
Seemingly sent out to select Nintendo account holders, the survey begins by asking respondees about their recent New Horizons playtime. Questions focus on how much time players have spent with the game over the past two weeks, and how much of that game time is spent actually 'playing' the game, rather than simply having it on in the background.
The next stage of the survey asks about players' satisfaction and feelings towards the game, including agree/disagree questions such as 'I could always find something interesting in AC:NH to do', 'my ability to play AC:NH was well matched with the game's challenges', 'I played AC:NH to forget about my problems', and even 'I played AC:NH because I'd feel awful if I didn't'.
Towards the end of the survey, questions focus more on the players' overall mental health, including one question which asks whether you're currently living your 'best possible life', or 'worst possible life'. You can see a few of the questions in the tweets below, shared online by Twinfinite's Rebecca Stone:
The survey hasn't been sent out to everyone, of course, but we wanted to give you a chance to have your say. If you'd like, feel free to cast your votes in our own polls below.
This survey appears to be a follow up from a similar study shared by The University of Oxford last year which found that games like Animal Crossing can be good for your mental health.
