For many Animal Crossing: New Horizons players, just having a quality island design isn't enough: there has to be a particular theme to go along with it in order for the island to really stand out, such as science fiction. Fortunately there are plenty of futuristic items that can be collected in the game to help achieve this goal.
New Horizons has more freedom in of acquiring furniture items than just about any other Animal Crossing game thanks in large part to its inclusion of DIY elements. Space-themed recipes in particular play a significant role in New Horizons, as Celeste now wanders the island during shooting star nights - rather than staying up in the Observatory as she did in previous games - in order to provide players with everything from recipes for asteroids and satellites to furniture items that represent each zodiac sign.
In the year following New Horizons' release, dedicated Animal Crossing fans have had plenty of time to find creative ways to use many of the more sci-fi-related items introduced within the game as part of their designs. This doesn't just include Celeste's recipes, either. Quite a few utilize more standard DIY recipes or furniture from Nook Shopping to accentuate the theme. Here are some of the community's best sci-fi design ideas to help provide players with inspiration.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Best Sci-Fi Design Ideas
Bring In Cyberpunk Elements
It doesn't all have to be spaceships and alien encounters when it comes to crafting a sci-fi narrative. Some settings are more urban: just look to games like Cyberpunk 2077, for example. Animal Crossing: New Horizons includes plenty of recipes to help craft neon and futuristic street markets like the one made by Animal Crossing player Nirayele, or even a full sci-fi skyline as Reddit mittsubitch demonstrates.
Lava lamps, computer servers, and plenty of unique custom New Horizons designs help sell the illusion, making it appear as though visitors are walking straight through the middle of a colorful and towering sci-fi skyline whenever they visit the cyberpunk-themed island.
Embrace Space
One of the easiest ways to bring a bit of sci-fi to an Animal Crossing island is to move the setting out of this world in a literal sense. Floors and walls decorated with stars and futuristic tile can both be acquired through Celeste and used to make an otherwise ordinary living room feel more like a spaceship, as seen in player mileku3465's space-themed design. Other players could go a step further and turn an entire area into the surface of the moon like solblade83 opted to do with custom path designs.
They could also take a more straightforward approach through the use of starry lamps and garlands, as when Animal Crossing: New Horizons' shooting stars happen to ensure they don't miss out on the opportunity to gather more sci-fi furniture items.
Make A Futuristic Science Lab
Some of the best sci-fi designs take place in a more down-to-earth setting, though, and New Horizons player stellarmoonbeams makes a strong argument for this case. This player turned their house into a laboratory, complete with glowing lights and lab coats. This design is also arguably one of the more cost-efficient ones to put together, as players can make use of caught bugs or fish to include captured specimens within their laboratory.
Players can even get villagers in on the narrative of the design, gifting them their own lab coats from the Able Sisters tailor shop to wear. There's also the option of taking a more frightening approach: one New Horizons player's mad scientist lab even featured Animal Crossing villagers in test tubes to help further sell the idea. It's certainly a unique approach to bring a little bit of sci-fi to the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and further proves that there are plenty of areas for fans of the series to turn to for inspiration.
Image Source: Nirayele/Reddit, ashleeping/Reddit
