ToroLUG launched an Animal Crossing Island collab in 2025.
For those not familiar with Animal Crossing, it is a video game series developed by Nintendo, with the latest entry, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, released in 2020. In that game, players can explore and develop their own island, populated by anthropomorphic animal neighbours.
Following the success of the game, Lego released the first Animal Crossing sets in March 2024. Many ToroLUG members are fans of the game, sparking the idea for a large collaborative build. Seven of them joined forces to build a large island, similar to those you can find in the game. After months of careful planning and building, the result of this collaboration is an impressive island filled with details and references recognizable by any Animal Crossing fan.
Jon, Ryan, Matt, Maia, Victoria, and Marissa will guide us through the island they built, sharing stories and memories from the collaboration along the way. Join us as we dive in and explore the nooks and crannies of ToroLUG’s island with all its bells and whistles.
The layout itself began as a digital design created by Ryan, who modeled much of the island and several buildings in Bricklink Studio before the first bricks were placed. “The beach layout was heavily inspired by my actual Animal Crossing island,” he explains.
Seeing the design come to life was exciting for the rest of the team as well. Mike recalls: “I saw Ryan’s digital designs in Studio and I knew I had to make it a reality. The whole island is fantastic. Everyone did a great job with the sections they built and I feel the whole display is framed perfectly with the animal crossing sign which is my favourite part.”
The large Animal Crossing sign overlooking the island was built by Maia, who took on the challenge of recreating the iconic logo with Lego bricks.
“I am always looking for ways to get involved and for new challenges. While I have found myself good at replicating real life images and architecture, everything technique-wise about the sign was new to me, including letters and the shaping of the dark tan background,“ she says.
“However, mounting it was a monumental task to say the least!” adds Mike.
For several members of the collab, Animal Crossing was an important part of their life during a time when the pandemic didn’t allow much outside interaction.
Marissa explains: “I’ve been playing Animal Crossing since New Horizons came out in 2020. To me, it represents a safe haven where you can be free to explore and create. It actually became an important part of my Covid experience as well. My boyfriend and I would play for hours and hours every day, catching bugs, fishing, and building up our islands. It gave us a sense of routine when there was nothing else going on. Animal Crossing will always have special memories for me, and I still visit the game when I want to wind down and create something new without the pressure to be perfect.”
Ryan concurs: “Animal Crossing was a big part of getting through the pandemic. It gave my wife and I something fun to do, as well as being able to hang out with friends while having to stay inside.”
“I remember celebrating holidays with friends that year in-game and it meant a lot to me to still have a way to connect with people.“ recalls Victoria.
The scene in the back where Bunnie is being chased by a swarm of bees is a favourite for Marissa. “It reminds me of the countless times I’ve experienced that myself, running laps around my island only to get stung in the end,” she says.
Matt has been playing the series since the original GameCube release and does not mince words when professing his love for the collab: “Childhood Matt would have thought it was a dream come true that adult Matt would make such a big Animal Crossing island with his LEGO friends.”
The collaboration is full of small vignettes to which the builders give their personal touches, often inspired by some of their favorite moments in the game.
These kinds of tiny moments are part of what makes the island feel alive. They sometimes vary slightly between conventions, keeping the display fresh. Victoria comments: “What makes me smile are the little scenes we set up differently every time we bring the collab to a convention. I love setting up things like a villager getting chased by bees or inspecting a butterfly on a flower. It’s really fun that the collab can be set up in a way that still offers a chance to do a few new and dynamic things each time.”
These small scenes built by the individual builders come together to form the magic of the full island. “I think we all nailed it with our individual scenes, but what I truly love is the cohesiveness of all of our scenes together.” says Matt.
Victoria adds: “The last few times we met to do build days it became really apparent that everything was not only going to come together in time for the deadline we set, but also that it was absolutely going to meet and surpass our original vision for the collab.”
“I really love the area to the left of the town hall, with the double waterfalls and bridges. It has such a true-to-game feel and has a very fun visual interest. I think that section really exemplifies the look of the in-game island.” Jon says.
The orchard in the picture above is reminiscent of Matt’s island: “My island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons has adjacent areas for an orchard and a farm. I liked the idea and challenge of representing the spirit of these areas in brick form for Marshall!”
The museum is a landmark of Animal Crossing islands. Jon recalls the collab growing: “I think my big ‘wow’ moment came when we finally placed down a bunch of the finished buildings, the museum especially. They just felt so true to the game and promised that the final island would look great!”
The easter eggs and references go beyond Animal Crossing with Isabelle’s trophy display section. Nintendo fans will recognize it as a nod to the Super Smash Bros fighting game series, offering a funny contrast to the cozy atmosphere of Animal Crossing.
This area was designed by Jon, who’s a big fan of both games: “I knew as soon as we started the collab that I wanted to put some kind of Smash Bros. reference for Isabelle, since she’s my main choice for Smash Ultimate. So apart from the other elements of the island I worked on, I also added a small area behind the town hall of a trophy shelf, crate with the smash logo, her trusty slingshot, and a pipe that could potentially be her gateway to the Smash Bros. game.”
For this scene, Marissa drew inspiration from her own in-game island.
“I wanted to create something that felt like ‘me’ while still being cohesive with the rest of the island,” she explains. “I thought about my island that I have in-game, and while I have made many changes, there was always one thing that’s been there since the beginning: the ice cream stand. I’m also a fan of all things cute and pastel so making the claw and capsule machines felt like a natural addition to my section. These were so much fun to build, especially the claw machines because I was able to add in a bunch of Lego plushies and make them super accurate to their in-game counterparts.”
We asked the builders who they would like to be if they were to join the island as a villager. Some members had no trouble imagining themselves living there.
“I would be Roald! He is an awesome little penguin guy and is one of my favourite villagers. They also gave him a red plaid shirt in New Horizons, and I mean, how can I do better than that?” Matt replies immediately, wearing his characteristic red plaid shirt.
Victoria goes a different route: “Maybe Poppy. Her house is right down the stairs from the museum so it would be a quick walk to go look at fossils!”
Jon does not hesitate: “He’s not a Lego minifigure yet, but if they ever choose to add my beautiful boy, Hamphrey the hamster, into the roster of Lego animal crossing characters, money will be no object.”
As we’re nearing the end, Ryan reminds us that the real collab is the friends we make along the way. “My favorite moment was actually at the beginning, just reaching out to people in the LUG who were interested in Animal Crossing and becoming friends along the way.”
Whether or not you play the Animal Crossing games, we hope you enjoyed this tour of ToroLUG’s island!