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It started the same as any romance: inside a magical fantasy world constructed by a villainous Tanooki landlord. But it ended with two people crossing borders and travelling thousands of miles to be with each other.

Steven Brown had a unique problem: he had too many Bells in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and wanted to get rid of a few. He found Shayla Johnson on an Animal Crossing Facebook group, and she was happy to take the extra dosh off his hands. They initially planned to meet up just the once, according to Fox 13 News, but the quick interaction turned into an island tour, which turned into a friendship, which turned into love. Aww!

“The pair found themselves talking outside Animal Crossing every day for hours, and falling in love from a distance. Brown said it felt as if they had known each other their whole lives.”

Despite only knowing each other since the start of the pandemic, and only virtually, Brown flew from Utah to Indiana to meet Johnson in person last August, and asked her to marry him on the same trip. She said yes, and is planning to move to Utah this month to be with Brown and his daughter, Audrey. Here’s hoping that they have a kid together, and name it K.K. Slider.

It’s not the first time that Animal Crossing and marriage have gone hand-in-hand, and it probably won’t be the last. Have you found love through video games? Did you stage an elaborate fake wedding with Marshal on your island, making him a special tuxedo outfit to wear and asking him to call you “honeybuns” from that moment on ? That’s… just an example. We would never do that. Tell us about your romantic video game stories in the comments!