A university in Ireland is asking Animal Crossing: New Horizons players to take part in a psychological study. As a reward, the university is offering participants the chance to win a Nintendo Switch game of their choosing.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has dominated sales charts since its release in March 2020. The lighthearted and laid-back nature of the game has served as a means of escapism for many from the tumultuousness of real-world events. The game continues to reach and surpass sales milestones around the world, becoming Japan's best-selling game of 2020 by a wide margin.

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The objective of the survey, as detailed on its official website, is to better understand the psychology behind Animal Crossing: New Horizons players. The study is being conducted by the School of Applied Psychology at University College Cork, Ireland. According to the description, the study aims to figure out if there's a relationship between a player's personality and player type, and how that translates to their Animal Crossing: New Horizons playstyle. Apparently there is currently little to no research on "social simulation" titles, and the study aims to help fill this gap in knowledge.

Players who do decide to take part in the study are required to have played Animal Crossing: New Horizons for at least ten hours and be at least 18 years of age. Those that qualify will be asked to submit several stats from their game including their Nook Miles numbers, Happy Home Academy score, island star rating, and total number of hours logged playing the Switch title. Once that is done, participants will be asked to complete a short personality test, as well as a player type test. While the concept may sound unique, video game-based scientific studies are quickly becoming commonplace, as another study by Brunell University aimed to figure out why some players choose inverted controls, which is believed to be directly tied to how they perceive the world.

The end of this survey provides participants with a link where they can enter their email for a shot at winning a free digital Switch title, with the winner being announced on March 12. In addition to the Animal Crossing: New Horizons survey, gamers can also take a Genshin Impact survey for free rewards, focusing on another title that exploded in popularity last year and shows no signs of slowing down.

The psychological study's offer of winning a free Switch game should entice participants to be successful. However, many gamers would likely rather just play Animal Crossing: New Horizons than answer questions about it. Fortunately, the title has recently introduced new content, including items for Valentine's Day.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Switch.

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Source: animalcrossingsurvey.com