Chewbot: The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing.

Attention: Spoilers ahead. Consider this the case for any of my posts.

In general, Animal Crossing for the gamecube and it's derivitives on other Nintento systems are considered to be children's games. They are in the social simulation genre, meant to depict AI and human proxied characters in interaction. The most well known title of the social simulation genre is The Sims, where people are moved around in virtual lives in a virtual world. Animal Crossing works similarly, except instead of people it has anthropomorphic animals. The primary gameplay mechanic is collection and trading of items with the other characters, and the mood is generally lighthearted.

In 2008, the Something Awful user Chewbot began playing Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS, finding that the scenario and dialogue taken out of context could quickly become nightmare fuel. The result was a screenshot LP titled The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing.

Screenshot let's plays juxtapose images of gameplay with adjacent text to tell a story, often elaborating upon the plot of the game. In the case of Chewbot's story, the plot was almost completely fabricated. A young boy named Billy is sent off to camp at Animal Crossing, and finds that something is off. Investigating further, he discovers an elaborate conspiracy dominated by the anthropomorphic raccoon Tom Nook. Near the climax, gruesome fanart (and even a fanimation) replaces the screenshots. Various bits of scripted conversation and letters lead to a growing unease of the unknown evil that is keeping Billy and the other children in the camps. This Lovecraftian horror changes suddenly as we learn that Tom is not the villain, and of the real story behind the crossing. Chewbot creatively used stationary throughout to craft haunting letters which are not stock for the game, yet do not violate the game mechanics. The two endings are interchangable as they both start before the big reveal, the former ending in a victorious yet somber rescue and the latter in nightmare. The addition of two audio tracks, one for the first chapter and one of the final, is appreciated but incomplete, as if they were planned as a full project but never finished. This work walks a fine line between fanfiction and let's play, with just enough elements of let's play to fall on that side. The result is a lighthearted childrens game is transformed into survival horror more akin to Eternal Darnkess: Sanity's Requiem.

Like most good horror, the elements are subtle and slowly build over time. In context, the character lines used in the screenshots were probably much less creepy, but the initial scene with the taxi driver, Kapp'n, where he says, "I'll just have to make you work it off, HAR HAR HAR! Welcome to camp!" seems almost as dark innuendo alone. Gyroids, originally an item which dances and makes music (or multipurpose item in other versions), is reimagined as sinister artifacts which turn people into anthropomorphic animals. Even the title, Animal Crossing, is used to refer to the period of time between traveling to the island and becoming like the rest of the inhabitants. None of this is known to the reader till the reveal in chapters 8 and 9, with a second reveal in the first ending. The second ending is much more of cosmic horror; there is no escape for the character, who is left in a living nightmare that he now welcomes. The main plot and second ending parallel Lovecraft's Shadow over Innsmouth, where the narrator slowly becomes aware of the creeping evil in the town he is visiting, that the inhabitants are born human and turn into monsters, and by the end he is one of them. In contrast, the first ending jumps away from Lovecraft roots by revealing the true mastermind behind the child slavery and switching to slasher and gore to invoke horror, after which Billy gives a "10 years later" epilogue. Both are nightmare fuel, especially with the digital scene paintings.

I don't think I will soon forget the line "my favorite is rabbit =)". I also don't believe I will ever be playing these games; I enjoy my sleep.