Animal Crossing player shares a wonderful and heartbreaking story about a real-life friend she made through the game

Just like 150+ million Americans out there, I spend a bit of time on Tiktok. I was scrolling through the For You page just last night and came across a person sharing a story about their time playing Animal Crossing: Wild World. The story was so moving, beautiful and heartbreaking that I thought I had to share with all of you.

Tiktoker Tattletav is a massive Animal Crossing fan, and has been spending hours upon hours with the franchise since the Animal Crossing: Wild World days. It’s actually her love of Wild World that facilitated the meeting of one of her best virtual friends.

Tattletav had cultivated a lovely town in Animal Crossing: Wild World, and she was eager to show off her hard work. She hopped on a forum to see if anyone wanted to come visit, found a couple people who were interested, and they exchanged Friend Codes for a virtual tour. Unfortunately for Tattletav, the players she invited ended up completely trashing her town.

Tattletav was devastated by what happened, and returned to the forum to let people know to stay far away from the pair of players she had met up with. That’s when she was introduced to Kathline, another random player who said they’d be more than happy to travel to Tattletav’s town and help get things in order. Even though she had just been burned by other strangers, Tattletav felt that Kathline was someone she could trust, so the pair exchanged Friend Codes.

This began an incredible friendship between Tattletav and Kathline, most of which was fostered through Animal Crossing: Wild World itself. The pair would play the game together online for well over a year, enjoying each other’s towns and company. All seemed to be absolutely perfect, until one fateful day when Kathline didn’t show up for a play session.

Tattletav had no idea where Kathline was, as she wouldn’t show up in Wild World, nor was she responding on the forum. This led to Tattletav leaving her Wild World gates open for 8 days, hoping that Kathline would show up. On the 8th day, Tattletav heard the familiar noise of someone arriving at her gates. Unfortunately, it was someone bringing some very sad news.

Instead of Kathline arriving to play, it was her daughter acting as Kathline’s avatar. Kathline’s daughter let Tattletav know that her mom had unfortunately passed away. Prior to her passing, Kathline gave her daughter instructions on how to play Animal Crossing: Wild World and visit Tattletav to share the news. Even in her final moments, Kathline didn’t want Tattletav to think she would just up and disappear on her.

It’s a heart-wrenching story, but it’s also one that shows the power of videogames to foster friendships and connections. Many still think videogames are a waste of time, as well as an activity for hermits and reclusive people. We obviously know that couldn’t be further from the truth, and stories like this help others to realize the same.