I loved Kentucky Route Zero, which is a moody, melancholy point-and-click storytelling game with musical interludes and all kinds of cool stuff. Yes, I played Animal Crossing: New Horizons when it first came out - in fact, I bought a copy for a stranger on Twitter, because she was in a pinch and it had been such a balm to me.īut I also play RBI Baseball 20 (the official MLB-sanctioned baseball game) and Super Mega Baseball 3 (the funnier, more whimsical baseball game), and I play Paper Mario: The Origami King (the fact that you throw confetti like Rip Taylor in that game is just the best). Maybe it's not a surprise that I, as someone who lives alone and finds myself with time to kill in these Pandemic Days, have made a lot more use of my Switch in the last few months than in the last couple of years.

You build some roads, you create zoning (and really, who doesn't get into gaming in order to explore land-use planning?), you supply these areas with water and power, and then people begin to move in. It's very much like the game Sim City that I played years ago, and it proceeds in much the same way: You have some land. I play it on my Nintendo Switch, but you can play it on your Xbox, or your PlayStation, or your computer. The city I created playing the game Cities: Skylines. Not in my yard, you understand: in my imaginary city. I'm overwhelmed by so many things right now, not the least of which is that I keep having to build wind turbines. Your animals will demand your attention in Planet Zoo, just one of several simulation games that might distract you from quarantine.

Download animal planet zoo