Get creative with these Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas to inspire you

Animal Crossing is one of Nintendo’s most popular games. Even three years after New Horizons’ release, it is still among the top 20 best-selling games on the platform.

We think it is a fantastic game! You can create your own virtual island and visit players worldwide. Besides, it has charming graphics, relaxed gameplay, and engaging social interactions with NPC characters.

So, the idea of having your own island and designing it your way without a big budget is a dream for many gamers. But, with so many possibilities, it can be overwhelming to come up with new ideas to decorate and design your island.

In this article, we will explore some creative Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas to inspire you. Besides, we bring you some tips on encouraging creativity. Whether you’re a fan of the franchise or a newbie looking for new inspiration, we hope these ideas will help you make the most out of your island adventure.

Cool Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas

If you need more motivation, don’t worry, we are here to save you! Here are some unique Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas to inspire you:

Beach Resort island

We know that the DLC Happy Home Paradise is set on a tropical island, and we can enjoy the ambiance of a beach resort there. But you could get inspiration from the DLC to recreate some ideas for your own island.

Turn your island into a tropical paradise with palm trees and beach umbrellas. You can even create a pool and beach sports area.

Fairy garden island

Create a whimsical wonderland on your Animal Crossing island with fairy lights, enchanted forests, and a mystical ambiance. You can decorate the island with waterfalls and beautiful flowers. If you find the tall mushrooms and star fragments projects, you could add a magical vibe to your island walkway.

Zen retreat island

This is one of the most popular island themes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. So why not? Create a peaceful island with bamboo gardens, zen bridges, and soothing waterfalls. You can even add a yoga studio or meditation space in your house. Also, you can create a relaxing space outside for your villagers.

Farmhouse island

Create a rural paradise with vegetable gardens, orchards, and a greenhouse. You can even simulate a rustic farmhouse or barn. There are many objects in Animal Crossing: New Horizons to decorate your island with this theme. You can customize some items with the Custom Designs app in the Able Sisters Shop.

Medieval island

Create a castle-themed island with stone walls, inclines, and bridges. You can even have a throne for your character to rule over their island. It is expensive (800,000 Bells), but if you want this theme, you better sell a lot of fish to get it.

Japanese city island

One of the best Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas to take into account is transforming it into a Japanese city. Recreate streets and find a manhole cover DIY project to add more detail to your paths. You could customize everything to get something similar to Kyoto streets.

Also, you can use the simple panel to simulate Tokyo skyscrapers with a forced perspective.

Do you know what forced perspective is? It is when you distance yourself to make something look bigger or smaller. You can do this in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Egyptian island

Who doesn’t love the stories of mummies, pyramids, and pharaohs? If you are a fan of these, you should create an Egyptian island. The game offers many items to build this theme, for example, pyramids and the Sphinx. Besides, there are some DIY golden projects, such as an altar, a casket, and a seat made with gold nuggets.

Adventure island

One of our favorite movies of all time is Indiana Jones, and some of our favorite games are Uncharted and Tomb Raider. That’s why we propose you create an adventure island-themed with treasure hunts and obstacle courses. You can even create a pirate-themed area on the secret beach with treasure chests.

Sci-fi or Cyberpunk island

Create a futuristic island with high-tech objects and a secret laboratory in your house. You will find some inspiration in the Cyberpunk 2077 video game or the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners animated series. Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers some items, such as metallic elements, neon lights, and electronics. You just need to let your imagination run wild!

Holidays and seasonal islands

If you enjoy some celebrations or seasons, you can make a themed island based on your favorite time of the year. These are some Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas for holidays and seasonal themes:

Summer and surfer paradise island

Oh, summer! What a beautiful season to spend your time on a beautiful island. Check these ideas to create a summer paradise in your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island.

• Beach Resort/Spa: Create a beach paradise with palm trees, beach chairs, and cool drinks. Add surfer items and torches to get a Hawaiian style.
• Tropical Jungle: Transform your island into a lush tropical jungle with bamboo trees and colorful flowers.
• Underwater Adventure: Create an underwater-themed island with the Animal Crossing: New Horizons sea creatures. You can make an exhibition of coral reefs and exotic fish.
• Island Festival: Decorate your island as if you were hosting a summer festival with music, food, and games.
• Brazilian Paradise: Who does not love the Brazilian carnival? Well, in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you will find Festivale items during February. Collect them all and create a themed island inspired by the magic of Rio de Janeiro.
• Desert Oasis: Design your island as a desert oasis with palm trees, white sand, and a cactus. Build a fabulous campsite for NPC visitors, and create an oasis lake with cute plants.
• Beach Bonfire: Create a beach bonfire on your island. Complete the decoration with guitars and bohemian instruments. Create a cozy beach atmosphere with warm colors and wood textures. It will look awesome at sunset.

Halloween town island

Create a mysterious island with dark houses, creepy forests, and spooky decorations. You can even create a pumpkin patch and a graveyard.

• Build a haunted mansion: Use Halloween items to decorate your house and build a spooky ambiance. Complete with a cemetery outside.
• Create a pumpkin patch: In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can plant pumpkins of different colors to decorate your gardens.
• Create a spooky forest: It would be difficult because Animal Crossing trees are adorable. But you can use the cedar tree and decorate the floor around them with customized designs.
• Make a trick-or-treat street: Use jack-o-lanterns decorations and recreate candy stations.
• Get inspired by classical horror movies such as Psycho, The Shining, The Exorcist, Dracula, and Frankenstein.

Winter Wonderland island

Winter is a lovely season, and you could buy items related to Christmas and winter in Nook’s Cranny. Use your imagination and create a Ski Resort or Christmas-themed island!

• Christmas Market: Set up a cute market with holiday items and gifts. You can use the stall DIY project to simulate small shops. Remember to decorate everything with lights and Christmas trees.
• Ski Resort: Design a ski resort with frozen series furniture. You can get the DIY projects for these objects by creating perfect Snowboys.
• Christmas tree farm: You will notice that cedar trees are decorated during the winter season. So, you can move them to create a tree farm where villagers can buy the perfect Christmas tree for their homes.
• North Pole village: Transform your island into a cozy North Pole village and add some Santa items. The Festive Series furniture includes a big festive tree, illuminated decorations, and a sleigh.
• Holiday movie theme: As we said before, you can get some inspiration from classical movies. Our favorite Christmas movies are A Christmas Carol, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Home Alone. Get ideas from those movies to create a perfect themed island.

Lack of inspiration and how to overcome it

So, we already gave you original Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas, but you still lack motivation and don’t feel really inspired today. Don’t worry! In this article, we also bring some tips to get your creative juices flowing again on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons walkthrough.

Look for inspiration

Take a break and explore other players’ islands. Watch YouTube videos, or look for ideas on Pinterest. Discover other players’ ideas, and take notes on what you like and what you can adapt to your own island.

What to avoid:

• Don’t compare your island with someone else’s. Some players will have other items because they have an impressive amount of hours playing. Remember, it’s ok to be different.
• Don’t copy everything. Even if you love an idea so much, try to be original.

Change your perspective

Imagine what your island would look like in a different season or time of day. You can time travel to discover it. If you don’t know so much about it, we talk about time travel in another article.

Also, try looking at your island from a different angle. You can try forced perspective to decorate it with original themes.

What to avoid:

• Time travel can lead to some consequences on your island. Read more about it here.
• Don’t get stuck with just one season or time of day because all Animal Crossing seasons are beautiful. You will discover different things in each one.

Take small steps

Break down your design ideas into small spaces. Create achievable tasks, such as adding a new piece of furniture to a room. It can help you feel less overwhelmed and more motivated to keep creating.

What to avoid:

• Don’t get frustrated because you’re missing something. If you don’t have an item yet, just use another in the meantime.

Join online communities

Play with friends and join Facebook groups or other online communities to collaborate on island design ideas. You can ask other players for ideas and help them when they need more inspiration.

What to avoid:

• Be careful when you invite other people to join your island. Some could steal your dropped items. So, move any valuable items to a secure location before inviting other players.

Don’t be afraid to experiment

Animal Crossing is the perfect game to relax and try out new ideas. It doesn’t matter if they seem unusual or weird. You never know what might work for you.

Remember, creativity is a process that takes time and effort. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re feeling stuck. It’s just a game, and the whole thing is to have fun!