The Animal Crossing Lego sets are available worldwide and, well, they look like the bits and pieces you’ll see around the village in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. However, after building the Isabelle’s House Visit set, which includes Isabelle and Fauna minifigs and a small house inspired by the neighbor cottages, I can’t help but feel like this is a series in which the optimal conditions involve clearing off a whole shelf for your new “town” and buying a whole village.
So the first thing to note is that the Animal Crossing sets feature all the quality of life features you’d expect from recent Lego releases. That means when you open the box, pieces are organized into bags by the order you’ll need them. The color manual is very clear about putting things together. There will occasionally be one or two spare parts, such as extra flowers that can be attached to Isabelle’s head as a decoration. So the building experience itself is quite relaxed and approachable. Especially since this is only a 389 piece set. It isn’t too taxing.
The thing I noticed and appreciated as I started my build is how customizable it is designed to be. There’s a modular nature to the base, and it comes with vegetable garden and a space with a tree designed to be repositioned wherever someone might like. All furniture elements are created in such a way that they can be put anywhere, with circular bases for most that make them easy to lift up and attach at particular spots. Two types of window frames are provided, though I personally preferred the brown ones that matched the trim of the house instead of the blue ones that… match the balloon on the floating present?
It really feels like a sort of set to encourage creativity. For example, multiple baked goods appear for the kitchen table and oven, so you can decide what treats appear or if the minifigs are holding them. There are lots of extra flower parts, so I applied them to the ground as extra decorations. I put the included plant in the window and took one of the top tiers of it off, rather than have it on the floor in the home. There’s a bit of nuance that I appreciated. The fact that you can hide bells in the tree’s leaves, there are moving parts like the mailbox door, and a number of “accessories” makes me feel like it’s really designed to be played with and used, instead of just some display.
However, it could be just me, but it also makes me feel like all that customization could be the Animal Crossing Lego sets’ undoing. I am very happy with Isabelle’s House Visit. It’s great. It’s cute. I appreciate how it all looks, and it is definitely keeping the spirit of the series. But when I was done, I definitely wanted more possibilities for arrangements. Including three land parts, one of which is designed to be used as a walkway, doesn’t really feel like enough. It makes me feel like the Bunnie’s Outdoor Activities area is needed to connect in and offer more context and space, or the Nook’s Cranny and Rosie’s House to put together a small town square.
But then, perhaps that is an indicator of the success of the Animal Crossing Lego sets in general? It is fostering a platform to build up a little town of your own in real-life. I mean, I have the instructions, and the parts used for Fauna’s house in this Isabelle’s House Visit set aren’t terribly unique or complicated. It’d be easy to pick up some piecemeal ones from a Lego store or set and cobble together additional homes following that pattern. I’m already eying up a Bunnie’s Outdoor Activities or Kapp’n’s Island Boat tour as possible secondary purchase options, as I could use the one to expand onto the forest part or the other to add a beach in front of Fauna’s house.
The Lego Animal Crossing Nook’s Cranny & Rosie’s House, Isabelle’s House Visit, Kapp’n’s Island Boat Tour, Bunnie’s Outdoor Activities, and Julian’s Birthday Party sets are available now. Animal Crossing: New Horizons are available on the Nintendo Switch.
