Since the days of the Game Boy, the greatest joy of handheld gaming is portability. From a park bench to the back seat of a car, anywhere can be a place to put a button. This has become all the more true over the past two years, as being able to play and re-engage with the outside world has become a way to dealing with Covid-19 anxiety. Last week, however, I discovered a whole new gadget: Helps me stay calm while stuck on a train for 35 hours — with a toddler.
This revelation comes through a sort of disaster that occurred in early 2022. Like many other families, I struggled with what to do this holiday season as Omicron cases surged. In the end, my husband and I decided to escape the cold of Philadelphia and take our toddler south to my parents’ house, drive down, and catch the Amtrak train back. We can quarantine with my family, and on the way home, try to keep Covid safe in a private cabin. However, like many others, we have difficulty when A big blizzard is coming the Northeast last week, leaving cars stranded on I-95 in Virginia, and we’re stuck in our cabins with nothing to do but wait.
The trouble started around 5:30 a.m., when I woke up to find out the train wasn’t moving. There were trees on the tracks between Richmond and Washington, DC, and we couldn’t move until they were cleared. In a series of surreal events, we didn’t receive any updates until close to noon because the conductor forgot to include our car in the announcement. We don’t know when we’ll be moving again, but in many ways we’ve been lucky. We have heat, space, a bathroom, and when others on the train ask for diapers or formula, the packing is so thick that we don’t go hungry.
What we needed, however, was a way to keep our little self from turning into a crying mess. We’ve got an iPhone 12 Pro with terrible battery life, an iPad, and a Nintendo Switch. It’s the second one, and specifically Cozy Grove, that saved us all.
I like the description Cozy Grove as a kind of quest based Mule. You are a Scout and your job is to help the ghost bears around your island regain their memories so they can continue in peace. It’s a quiet, calming game, and while playing has definitely helped relieve my anxiety about the situation, my toddler has already reaped most of the benefits, commanded his mother. to show him different things on the island—whether it’s fish, Mr. Kit (“Mom, I want to see a fox!”), or a seashell. He particularly liked the different bears on the island, asking me to guess which one he wanted to see. (“Is it like corn or a flower?” Was a frequently asked question during that time.) The part I am most grateful for is that thanks to my impulsive upgrade to the Nintendo Switch OLED, it was so easy for me to pick up. six hour sessions, which made a huge difference in our journey.
At 1:30 a.m. the next day, we reached our destination with dim eyes — 35 hours after we left. Luckily, my baby was already asleep when we got there, and he went to bed as soon as we got home. But even after he drifted away, I continued to wander around Cozy Grove Island. It’s still the perfect escape, even though I’m no longer stuck.
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