At this point you’ve probably at least heard of the hit new video game Animal Crossing. After all, it’s taken the world by storm! Well, recently, a young man discovered his 88-year-old grandma has become obsessed with Animal Crossing. In fact, she’s already played for more than 3,500 hours!
The Grandma Playing Animal Crossing
Thanks to COVID-19, millions around the world find themselves at home a lot more than they are used to! So, many are picking up new hobbies, from making coffee and bread to puzzles. Well, you can add video games to that list! 88-year-old Audrey Buchana started playing the latest hit video game, Animal Crossing, because of the coronavirus. And, like millions of others, she became instantly hooked.
In case you completely missed it, the 2020 version of the game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, is the latest in a five-game series, the first of which came out in 2001. However, unlike other games, players do not shoot each other or play a competitive sport. Instead, users build villages and homes with anthropomorphic animals and complete daily tasks like picking fruits, fishing, and the like, to continue building up their town. It might seem a bit complicated for an 88-year-old, but Buchana’s love of Animal Crossing did not begin with the newest game…
Meet Mayor Audie
Believe it or not, Buchanan has been an avid gamer for some time. During the lockdown, her grandson, Paul Hubans, a video game developer himself, discovered that his grandmother had played over 3,500 hours of the last Animal Crossing game, released in 2018. In a video he posted on Youtube, Hubans documented his grandmother givin’ him a tour of her impressive, well-constructed hamlet. She also shared the animals she’s encountered and her in-game avatar: Mayor Audie.
After Hubans posted the video, people fell in love with not only Buchanan’s world, but her incredible personality as well! In fact, many fans contacted him, saying they wanted to team together and surprise his grandmother with something truly incredible. In the end, people from around the world pooled their resources together to purchase Buchanan the newest edition of the game and a brand-new Nintendo Switch to play it on! “I felt like people really wanted to be a part of it,” Hubans said. “I was planning to buy it [the for her anyway, but I wanted to oblige people’s generosity, so I set up a GoFundMe to get it for her.”
Now on the 2020 edition of the game, Buchanan has already spent hours upon hours creating a new world. Meanwhile, the makers of Animal Crossing also had something in store for the video gaming grandma!
Commemorating Mayor Audie
You can see in the photo above just how much Buchanan’s avatar, Mayor Audie, looks like her! hen asked why she loves Animal Crossing so much, the 88-year-old gamer said, “It’s more like a dollhouse than it is a game. I never had a dollhouse when I was a kid, so I guess that’s why I like it.” Now she can play whenever she wants! However, this amazing tale does not end there! Like the Animal Crossing series itself, it will continue into the future…
Apparently, Nintendo also saw the incredibly heartwarming video. Now, the company wants to commemorate Buchanan’s character in-game! Mayor Audie, complete with a big pair of sunglasses and winged eyeliner, will appear in a forthcoming update. Now that’s quite the legacy to leave behind!