Lego Isabelle's House Visit (77049) review: "Captures that game magic perfectly"

There's nothing more sentimental about my time with Animal Crossing: New Horizons than remembering the feeling you get when you step outside your little house each day. With the Lego Animal Crossing Isabelle's House Visit set, Lego and Nintendo have managed to capture that game magic perfectly. It might not be the biggest or most expensive set in the Animal Crossing Lego range, but it's perfectly priced and has so many excellent details that fans of the series can enjoy and appreciate. It's easily one of the best Lego sets for Nintendo fans.

Lego Isabelle's House Visit (77049) features

• Includes Isabelle and Fauna minfigures
• Nice customization options
• So many different elements

Lego Isabelle's House Visit is the second largest in the Animal Crossing range - at least at the time of writing - consisting of a villager house, and some smaller details that you can arrange around the exterior. The house itself is two-sided, like a doll's house, and includes so many of the little details that so many of us spent many hours (read: days) fiddling around with during the hazy days of 2020-21. From the little vegetable patch and tool station out front to the gift balloon flying overhead, there's a lot to love about the external details of this delightful build.

But it's the house itself that's bound to please. There's so much crammed in here, from a patchwork bed to a table and chairs, but also smaller items like a Nook Phone and a K.K. Slider album to mount on the wall. A tiny stove and sink makes for an adorably compact kitchenette.

I had great fun messing around with the placement of everything, and the good thing about this build - and all of the Animal Crossing Lego sets - is that there's so much versatility with how you layout and connect all the pieces together to make your own display or playset. It also means you can make it neat and compact enough to ensure it doesn't take up much room on a display shelf.

It's also worth noting that you get two minifigures with this set - Isabelle herself and Fauna the deer villager - which feels like great value for a set this price.

Lego Isabelle's House Visit (77049) build

• So many brilliant details
• Build only takes an hour or so
• Lots of ways to display

Altogether it took me just over an hour to complete the Isabelle's House Visit build. It's not complex, but there are plenty of little details and some hidden features to appreciate as you work your way through the manual. If anything it's easy to get distracted by how detailed the set is as you build, rather than stumbling on any complexities in creation. It's a great set for a family to enjoy together, just as you can the Animal Crossing game itself.

There are a lot of small pieces that aren't able to be fixed down though, which can be annoying if you're looking to display or neatly tidy away the set - including a small basket, a paintbrush, and a book. Not a deal breaker, but I can see them getting lost if this set is being played with regularly.

Lego Isabelle's House Visit (77049) design

• Sweet minifigures and accessories
• Plenty of interactivity
• Excellent two-sided design

Nintendo and Lego's partnership with these Animal Crossing sets really feel like a celebration of both bricks and the video games themselves. Lego Isabelle's House Visit is a brilliant example of this, and easily the best set in the range. The villager house itself is a compact slice of island life, with excellent detailing in the house's exterior fixtures and fittings like the chimney complete with 'smoke,' a tiled roof that lifts up for even more interior access, and the option of choosing between two window styles. The interior comes complete with so many pieces of furniture, household items, and decorations that you may well struggle to actually get it all inside the house. It definitely encourages playing around with all the pieces until you get the interior look you want.

However, I also love that you can fling open the door to your villager house to appreciate the details beyond too. There's a little postbox, which even comes with a letter you can post through the slot and store inside. There's a vegetable patch with pumpkin and carrot, a little tool station where you'll find you can hang your slingshot, axe, and shovel - clearly minifigs don't get inventory space.

There are also other placeable items like an apple tree – which has hidden secrets – with a fossil and dig spot, flowers, and even a balloon-lifted present held aloft by a clear Lego block that you can hide other items inside. There's so much here to appreciate that it's a real treat.

It's all displayed on a variety of little grassy squares too, interconnected to hold them together, but also to allow you to not only display the set however you want but also connect it to other sets in the Animal Crossing Lego range. I love this detail, as it encourages you to try and recreate your island in Lego form, although it's a dangerously slippery slope for my wallet too.

Should you buy Lego Isabelle's House Visit?

I honestly can't think of a reason not to recommend this set as the best in the Animal Crossing Lego range. It's affordable, offers plenty of spectacle in the build, comes with two minifigures, and oozes with Animal Crossing charm. Your villager's house is one of the most iconic visuals in the Animal Crossing games, and it's somehow better immortalized in Lego bricks.

Buy if if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Lego Isabelle's House Visit

The Isabelle's House Visit set was built over the course of a sunny Sunday morning, taking around an hour and a half including photography. We compared the quality and features of the set to the rest of the Animal Crossing Lego range, much of which I had also bought and built myself in the same weekend.

For more on our review process, make sure to check out our 'how we test' guide.

Want other recommendations? Be sure to check out our guide to the best Lego Star Wars sets. You can also add to your collection for less with the latest Lego deals.