Top 5 best town layouts in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Meg Bethany Koepp

Animal Crossing players are a talented bunch, and these five epic New Horizons town layouts show exactly why that’s the case. From Studio Ghibli-themed islands to Pokemon, prepare to be blown away.

The terraforming tool added in New Horizons is a godsend for fans who thrive off of personalizing their Animal Crossing towns to the best of their ability. It allows players to completely overhaul their layouts by adding (or taking away) cliffs and rivers for customization never seen before in the series.

If you’re looking for some design inspo, or just want to see some crazy town layouts, then you won’t be disappointed at all – AC:NH players are an insanely talented bunch with an equally creative mind.

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5. The Legend of Zelda’s Hyrule

If you’ve taken a break from exploring in Breath of the Wild on the Switch to dive into New Horizons, then this fan’s island will make you feel like you’re playing Zelda again. Reddit user ‘VaynMaanen‘ decided to model their town after Hyrule from A Link to the Past – and it’s epic.

Taking four painstaking days of constant terraforming, the skilled player recreated key landmarks from the SNES game, including Death Mountain, the Lost Woods, Kakariko Village, and Lake Hylia, just to name a few.

In a video with GameXplain, the fan gave a tour of their island, showing just how intricately detailed and accurate it is to the 1991 role-playing title.

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4. Pokemon Gold & Silver’s Johto region

Following in the same footsteps as the last one, YouTuber ‘Hinotch‘ (ヒノッチ) made a Nintendo crossover that many fans will recognize – the Johto region from Pokemon Gold & Silver.

Not only did they replicate the layout perfectly, they used New Horizons’ pattern feature to make their whole town seem as though the two titles have merged into one in what could be one of the best in-game crossovers you’ll ever see.

The amount of patience required to place all those patterns down on the floor is extremely admirable, to say the least, and it honestly just makes us want to pick up our Game Boy and revisit our childhoods.

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3. Shibuya, Japan

If a Japanese vibe is more your thing, then this layout will be right up your alley – literally. Modeled after the streets of Shibuya, Redditor ‘Ah00n‘ recreated the Tokyo ward with perfect accuracy.

Complete with telephone poles and rock gardens, the player gives viewers a tour that’ll make anybody hungry for a trip to the Asian country. They even included vending machines to really incorporate that city atmosphere – after all, Japan is famous for its many different types of dispensing appliances.

We’ve never been to a Japanese neighborhood, but it’s clear from the video that their island is the spitting replica of what a rural countryside town is like in the country.

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2. Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away

If you’ve ever seen Spirited Away or if you’re obsessed with Studio Ghibli, then this design will truly give you the feels. Inspired by the movie’s bathhouse, Reddit user ‘jae_iin‘ created the perfect crossover for fans of legendary director Hayao Miyazaki.

In the film, the lead up to the bathhouse features a strip of street vendors who sell a plethora of different items such as food – something which is mimicked perfectly in the town.

It even includes the red bridge that Chihiro has to hold her breath to cross with Haku to avoid being detected by the spirits and having her cover blown.

1. Fairy forest

Sometimes, keeping it natural is just as effective, and Twitter user ‘honeycrossing_‘ is the perfect example of that. Littered with many kinds of flowers, weeds, and stepping stone floor patterns, their island looks like they’ve just stepped into a magical fairy forest.

By using the terraforming tool to create waterways woven between the trees, the player has created the perfect dreamy woodland, incorporating cliffs and waterfalls to tie the whole thing together.

It really does feel like something out of a fantasy children’s book – almost as though you’ve been sucked into the pages and into the story itself.

If you’re struggling with the terraforming tool, check out our need-to-know guide here for inspiration on how to create your very own beautiful island that will be the envy of all your visitors.

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About The Author

Meg was Weekend Editor at Dexerto before leaving us in April 2022.