The Essential Tools to Maximize Gaming Experience of Animal Crossing and More

Published in

SkyVPN Newsroom

4 min readJun 19, 2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons had become #1 game on Nintendo Switch sales chart since early March and boomed as a dominant force in the Nintendo Switch eShop and the whole industry.

After three months’ reign, it was briefly taken down by Minecraft Dungeons, an isometric dungeon-crawling RPG based on ultra-popular virtual Lego. And then, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is back on top of the Switch eShop again.

The secrets of success are that Animal Crossing basically lets players build their own ideal island paradise to visit, decorate and wander for a few minutes or hours every day. The activities and designs on the islands are controlled by players with high degree of freedom. Players can collect and arrange furniture, trees and flowers, and talk to animal folks.

Also, the COVID-19 crisis and social distancing period contributed to the large portions of orders from all over the world as well. The game is not only a perfect time killer for single-player, but also provide friends with a new experience to interact and “hang out” together. Players can get on their friends’ islands through local or online connections. With a large number of players online at the same time, the connections lead to congested networks and cybersecurity risks. A gaming changer VPN benefits a lot in improving experience:

Access All Regions

With a gaming VPN, you get instant access to regional limited games and content. It also immensely lowers the cost of purchasing new games. You can connect with a VPN to any country that offers the game at a lower rate than other regions. If a game has been released in early access outside of your country, then gaming VPN help you get into that region and enjoy the game earlier.

Data Protection

A VPN protects you from most complex DDoS attacks since your real IP is masked so you never have to worry about getting attacked when gaming online.

Increase the speed

If your ISP is actively throttling your internet connection when you are playing games, a VPN could speed up your connection speeds as it dodges ISP throttling. A gaming VPN also enables high network stability to help avoid disconnects while playing the game.

How to Install a VPN For Gaming

Now you may understand why a VPN is essential for data security and improving game experience. Securing ordinary internet devices with a VPN is not difficult to arrange, but many game consoles (such as Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation) are not directly compatible with VPN software. Here is how to secure all your gaming and internet devices with a VPN:

Install VPN on Your WiFi Router

The simplest solution to protect your Nintendo Switch is to protect your WiFi network. In this way, you can also protect all your devices connected to your WiFi network at once.

You can buy a specialized router dedicated to working with a VPN. Alternatively, you can manually install your VPN onto your router, following step-by-step instructions that are easy to find with a quick Google search.

Set Up a VPN on MacOS

Before you set up your VPN, make sure to have a Mac and an Ethernet cable.

Download and install your preferred VPN.

Plug the Ethernet cable into the back of your Mac and your console.

Go to System Preferences > Sharing. From the left-hand side menu, click Internet Sharing.

From the drop-down menu that says ‘Share Your Connection From,’ select WiFi.

Tick Ethernet from the ‘to computers using’ list.

Check to the left of Internet Sharing to activate the WiFi sharing between your Mac and your console. Watch out for the green icon that indicates a successful connection.

Open the VPN software you downloaded onto your Mac and connect to a server from the VPN’s list of available servers.

On your console, find the network settings, choose a LAN cable option, and connect it to your Mac’s network.

You may need to select an option like “Do Not Use a Proxy Server.”

Set Up a VPN on Your PC

Download and install your chosen VPN service on your PC.

Plug an Ethernet cable at the back of your PC and console.

Open Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center. Click Change Adaptor Settings on the window.

Right-click your VPN’s icon and select Properties.

Open the sharing tab and be sure to select ‘Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection.’

Select Home Networking Connection and afterward, click the ‘home internet connection’ option from the drop-down menu.

On your console, find the network settings, choose a LAN cable option, and connect it to your PC’s network.