Plan out your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island with the fan-made Happy Island Designer tool

(Image credit: Nintendo)

You can plan out the look and layout of your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island with this delightful Happy Island Designer tool on github

Created by github user eugeneration, the tool lets you create your very own little island on a pixelated grid. Currently set with a variety of different options to craft your ideal island set-up, you can change the landscape with different terrain colours, place down a selection of different tree types - from ones that bear fruit to palm trees - and place tents and houses down for all of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers you'll have taking up residence on its sunny shores. 

The tool also includes some of the new features coming to New Horizons such as giving the option to set down little bridges and stairs. The terrain options also let you terraform the landscape just as you'll be able to during your island getaway.

(Image credit: eugeneration)

You can also decide where you want to put all of the buildings, such as the new and improved museum you'll be able to admire everything you've collected on your island. Not to mention you also pop down the Able Sisters shop where you can buy new outfits and try out new styles, and Nook's shop known as Nook's Cranny where you can buy all sorts of different items and craft your own. 

With the release date in just ten days (!) on March 20, this neat unofficial designer tool is such a fun way to keep you occupied ahead of boarding your flight. Oh, and speaking of flights, you can even make your very own little passport and boarding pass with another adorable fan-made generator. It truly is a great time to be an Animal Crossing fan. 

Check out our Animal Crossing: New Horizons hands-on preview or watch the video below for more island goodness. 

Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.