Watch this Animal Crossing: New Horizons video for some island-shaping inspiration

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New Horizons gives you the tools to customize your island

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The latest Animal Crossing: New Horizons video shows just how much power the game will give you to shape your surroundings.

When you first arrive on your deserted island, you'll automatically be able to decorate your surroundings (not just your home) with furniture, which is a big step for the series all by itself. Then as you progress through the game, you'll steadily unlock more fundamental permissions to rewrite the world: the ability to lay paths, remodel cliffs, and even change the course of rivers will all be made yours via your handy NookPhone device.

By choosing the appropriate app in the NookPhone, your character will put away the childish things of their carefree island life and commit themselves to industry and progress. By which I mean they can put on a cute little hard hat and start painting tiles onto the ground or digging up cliffs and riverbeds.

We got a chance to play with some of the tools in our Animal Crossing: New Horizons hands-on preview, but the true extent of their power will only be revealed when they're put in the hands of players worldwide. I fully expect to see some islands terraformed far beyond the point of recognition. Until then, you can crib some inspiration from the examples shown in this New Horizons video.

I especially like the wrestling ring complete with opposing red and blue sides, and the spooky witch island. Also, I need to unlock that witch's "sinister laughter" emote as soon as possible once the game comes out on March 20.

See what else is on Nintendo's horizon with our guide to upcoming Switch games

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.