Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers players more customization options than any of the series’ previous installments, and players have used that creative freedom to make some very impressive custom islands. Players have created themed environments, recreated famous fictional locations, and designed unique spaces that they use for other forms of artistic expression. This makes hopping between islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons an exciting experience, since there’s no telling where players will end up.

These creative Animal Crossing builds often use in-game items in unique ways to realize their visions. It’s impressive to see how players can completely reshape Animal Crossing’s island into a completely different environment. Recreations are also some of the most impressive builds, since players are forced to get creative with the resources available in Animal Crossing to try and replicate environments that weren’t hindered by the same restrictions.

10

This Gyroid Village Is A Tiny Island Within An Island

Created By Reddit User AlianovaR

For some reason, tiny recreations of things are just really cool to see. While Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ islands are already a tiny recreation of a real town, one player decides to go just another step further and make a tiny town within their town. It is essentially like seeing a model within a model, and it really stands out as a unique bit of scenery for an Animal Crossing island.

Using tiny model houses and tiles with interconnected paths on them, Reddit user AlianovaR created a mini village within their village. However, they took things a step further, by populating the town with Gyroids and using small trees and flowers to simulate vegetation. The simpler map design is reminiscent of earlier Animal Crossing games, making this model town also serve as a great homage to where the series started, as well as a clear example of how far it has come in terms of customizable options.

9

An Unnamed Island’s Downtown Has Been Turned Into An Urban Center

Created By Twitter User imotarez

When Animal Crossing: New Horizons players arrive at their island, it is about as far from a bustling urban center as one can get. It’s up to the player to add things to the island and attract more residents to come and live there. Because the island starts off so undeveloped, it is very impressive when players can convincingly create the feeling of being in a crowded city.

Twitter user imotarez has shared videos and still images of the city street they created on their island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. By utilizing plenty of neon lights, streetlamps, and some clever manipulation of the space’s elevation, the space really feels like the island has become a densely populated city. While all the “buildings” on the block aren’t actually accessible, the cleverly planned design still gives the feeling of walking down a street full of small shops. It feels similar to a theme park’s use of facades to create the illusion of a larger space.

8

Tumbleweed Is An Old West Themed Island

Created By Twitch User alannah

Although it may not seem like it at first, Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ gameplay isn’t too far off from a sanitized version of America’s westward expansion. Similarly, players are creating a new settlement which slowly grows over time into a larger town. This makes this Wild West-themed island, Tumbleweed by alannah on Twitch, a perfect reimagining of an Animal Crossing island. The YouTuber sparksby gave a great tour of this island, showing off its extensive theme and clever use of items to really make it feel like a small Western town.

Covering the ground in sand and removing most of the water from the island definitely helps sell this as a desert location. This is helped by the dusty orange sky and mostly warm-colored plants. Themed items like butter churners, covered wagons, and a lot of cacti give the whole island the perfect Western feel. The sight lines at the back of the island are well managed, creating the illusion that the player is on dry land. It’s not an island created in 2024, but it should inspire some great ones this year.

7

This Halloween Themed Island Is Perfect For Fall

Created By Twitter User leafstools

Halloween is easily one of the most atmospheric holidays. In the US, it is usually accompanied by other typical fall traditions like corn mazes and hay rides. Twitter user leafstools combined these typical trappings of a fall fest with jack-o-lanterns and a witch’s cauldron to make the ultimate autumn experience on their Animal Crossing island.

This custom island makes use of a variety of different pumpkin items, and plenty of hay bales to really capture that Halloween and harvest time feeling. They also put together a table where it looks like one could carve their own pumpkins, and a hay ride that players can sit on (though it won’t actually go anywhere). While the Christmas trees and reindeer may feel a little anachronistic for a Halloween theme, their colors actually work well with the rest of the items on display. Next Halloween, players should make sure to dress up and visit this island.

6

Porthaven Is In An Overgrown Jungle Island

Created By Instagram User flynncrossing

A lot of cool Animal Crossing: New Horizons builds take the island that players start with and go in a completely different direction with it. Porthaven, however, takes the idea of a largely remote island and runs with it. This island is a massive, overgrown jungle, with nearly every inch covered by some sort of wildlife. Even near town there are tons of bamboo shoots, flowers, and tropical trees, making it feel like the village was very much built with the intention of keeping the natural world intact.

There are also a lot of great sights to see on this island created by Instagram user flynncrossing, like a tall bridge above the treetops overlooking a river, and a series of cascading waterfalls. The town’s museum is also cleverly concealed behind vegetation and some old statues, making it appear like an old ruin instead of a modern building. A lot of effort was put into Porthaven to make it feel like a truly untamed island, and it is beautiful to look at.

5

Cabbage Island Is The Setting For A Story

Created By Instagram User cabbageisland

Cabbage Island, from cabbageisland on Instagram and Byron on YouTube, has the vibe of a small rural town, giving it a similar cottagecore appeal to something like Stardew Valley’s Pelican Town. There are farms, market stands, and even a horse-drawn carriage driving straight down the middle of the road. Buildings also seem simpler, often having wooden or bamboo flooring to really give the entire town a more rustic feel.

Aside from having crafted a unique and interesting island, its creator has also used the island to create some short films set in the game. Players following along with the story Byron has created will likely be even more excited to check out and explore Cabbage Island. Having a narrative and characters that players are familiar with adds even more life to Cabbage Island than was already hinted at by the well-done designs. Creators using video games for multiple forms of artistic expression is always a great reminder of just how flexible the medium is.

4

One Animal Crossing Player Painstakingly Recreates Legend Of Zelda Locations

Created By Reddit User Naydinfar-Crossing

One fun trend in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is players recreating iconic locations from other games or media. One great example of this is Reddit user Naydinfar-Crossing’s many recreations of The Legend of Zelda locations in Animal Crossing. This player often posts side-by-side comparisons of the locations from the original game and their versions, which are always strikingly similar, despite Animal Crossing’s limitations.

Instead of having one dedicated island that stays the same, it seems as though Naydinfar-Crossing isn’t afraid to redesign large sections of their island in order to get the perfect shot. One impressive example of this is their recreation of the floating landmasses from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which required a lot of changes to be made to the elevation of their island. Approaching new recreations on a project-by-project basis like this allows for great attention to detail and really makes these custom islands stand out. Another pre-2024 creation that has stood the test of time.

3

Explore The Wizarding World On Ascendio Island

Created By Instagram User anaskye.acnh

Another stellar recreation of other fictional works is Ascendio Island, a custom-made Harry Potter-themed village in Animal Crossing. Not content with recreating one or two iconic locations from the Wizarding World, this island’s creator – Instagram’s anaskye.acnh – made almost every iconic location from the franchise. There are stores like the Leaky Cauldron and Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, and even iconic vehicles like the Night Bus and the Hogwarts Express.

The most impressive part of this build is Hogwarts itself, which incorporates some very clever uses of player homes. The castle’s Great Hall is recreated in a large outdoor area, with customized houses being sprinkled throughout the castle grounds. Entering one brings players to recreations of classrooms, dormitories, or memorable locations like the Chamber of Secrets. This is a very creative use of space, allowing for more room around the rest of the island for other locations. Any players wanting a full tour of Ascendio Island can check out this comprehensive look from YouTuber Katie Cozyway.

2

One New Horizons Player Recreated The Mario Kart 8 Animal Crossing Stage

Created By An Unknown Player

Thanks to the popularity of Animal Crossing, it has crossed over into other Nintendo franchises, like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. Mario Kart 8 includes a course that leads players through an Animal Crossing village. This crossover has now been brought full circle by an anonymous Animal Crossing: New Horizons player who recreated the course on their own island.

The course includes coins, Koopa shells, and a few cars to make it look like someone is mid-race as players run through. Though the course isn’t an exact one-to-one recreation, due to scale, it is close enough for players familiar with the Mario Kart stage to immediately recognize the racetrack. A player who discovered this island, Twitter user PishPawshART, posted their run along the course, and the code needed for other players to visit Lamasery Island and see it themselves. Players should go check it out, and race around this Mario Kart track for themselves.

1

Kazahana Island Has A Variety Of Locations Inspired By Japan

Created By Reddit User JimPaulPerez

It’s rare to see an island in Animal Crossing that makes more efficient use of space than Kazahana Island by Reddit user JimPaulPerez. Not content with simply creating a single location inspired by Japan, this island’s creator made more than 10 distinct locations. Some highlights are the floating village, the central market, and a series of bridges crossing over a tiered waterfall in the center of the island.

The island combines actual water with ground tiles that look like water to create the illusion of an island that is segmented into many tiny areas. While it is possible to walk over these water tiles, that isn’t really a downside. If anything, it’s a benefit, as players can get close-up looks at all the great detail that was put into making the many different parts of the island. This Animal Crossing: New Horizons village has the feel of a meticulously constructed model set and is just as thrilling to examine and discover how it was put together.

Source: AlianovaR/Reddit, imotarez/Twitter, alannah/Twitch, sparksby/YouTube, leafstools/Twitter, flynncrossing/Instagram, cabbageisland/Instagram, Byron/YouTube, Naydinfar-Crossing/Reddit, anaskye.acnh/Instagram, Katie Cozyway/YouTube, PishPawshART/Twitter, JimPaulPerez/Reddit