How I spent 2020-2022

14 Jan, 2026

What with the Update 3.0 dropping tomorrow, and a need to produce more writing, I figured, eh, why not talk about my Animal Crossing: New Horizons island?

So here we go. Welcome to Monster Island.

My House

Screenshot from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, showing Slothra, my character, wearing a pink shearling coat, pink shearling boots, and a big white hat, with pink hair and purple glasses, standing in front of a blue house, with Hello Kitty topiary, black and purple tulips, and a plastic flamingo

Welcome to my house! This is where I live, on the absolute north of my island, away from everyone. I like Hello Kitty topiary, purple and black tulips, pumpkin-shaped wrought iron fencing, tanuki statues, and pink plastic flamingoes.

My Yard

Slothra is standing in their yard, to the right of the house, with a tanuki statue, a carp streamer, a plastic pool, a giant isopod in a plastic crate, a dog food dish, a dollhouse, a plastic tyrannosaurus rex, a standup of a triceratops, and a hammock.

Obviously, I can't keep everything in my house, but as you can see, I have a pet giant isopod, an inflatable pool for him to play in, a little house to live in, and a plastic dinosaur to hang out with. I also have a wooden stand-up of a dinosaur that hides my secret Super Mario Bros warp pipe to the shops, and a hammock, for resting.

The Other Side of My Yard

Slothra is standing in the rest of their yard, with a cast-iron stove, two cast-iron chairs, a cast-iron table with a cake on top, a play tent, five little robotic barking dogs, one toy dog, and wind turbines and solar panels in the back.

In the rest of my yard, I have a bunch of little barky robot dogs (and one impostor in the back) and a nice little stove to keep me warm while I eat my cake. You'll also see I have wind turbines and solar panels, because I need to keep everything powered.

My Flowers

Slothra is surrounded by a rainbow of flowers, with carp streamers in the background.

I have every colour of flower, thanks to some serious flower breeding and the occasional trade, and here I have them organised by colour and type. White, Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo/Violet, and Black. I also like carp streamers, and they work really nicely when you stick them on the last bit of ground on a lower level.

My Tiki Bar

Slothra is in a tiki bar, with coconut drinks, fish models, a giant Easter Island head, and bamboo dividers.

This is my waterfall-side tiki bar, where you can have plenty of coconut drinks, enjoy hanging out with fish, and talk to my giant Rapa Nui bestie.

You can't quite see it, but above the bar, there's a giant Japanese Snow Crab. He likes to hang out up there.

My Alien Invasion

Slothra is standing on some seaside rocks, where there's a satellite dish, a rocket tower, a space shuttle, and three robot toys that look like they're about to attack the space shuttle

Oh no! Our satellite called robots from another world and they're attacking! Look out, tiny people in the space shuttle!

My Godzilla Attacking

Slothra is standing in front of a large Godzilla figure, a toy helicopter, a lighthouse, the Statue of Liberty, and a trolley bus

What I really love about Animal Crossing is that if you touch the Godzilla figure, threatening music starts up and then he shoots fire out of his mouth. Yesssss, my darling, attack.

(Also, if you time it right, the toy helicopter can be up in the air right next to where Godzilla shoots his fire. Cinematic glory.)

My Godzilla, Mothra, and Gamera

Slothra is standing on a small archipelego, with another Godzilla figure, a statue of an Atlas moth, and a statue of a snapping turtle

And once you get a Godzilla, obviously you need Mothra and Gamera around. Godzilla's watching over Monster Island, because that is where he lives. And I love him.

My Vaporwave Entrance

Slothra is standing in the entrance of her island from the airport. There are lights stranded across poles, retro televisions, plastic flamingoes, large blue palm tree lights, and Venus de Milo statues

Right now, the entrance to my island is very vaporwave, because I have too many imitation Venus de Milos, too many retro TVs, and too many palm tree plants.

My Museum

Slothra is standing in front of her museum, with has a triceratops skull, a tyrannosaurus rex skull and torso, and two scorpion lights on plinths

And when you have spare fossils, why not turn them into a fancy museum entrance? The Scorpio lights also look great at night, but with those right at the entrance, Blathers is trapped, because he doesn't want to get near the bugs.

My Beach Resort

Slothra is standing in front of a little beachside area, with a scooter, a plastic flamingo, a palm tree light, a portable record player, a beach lounger, and a coconut drink

But if you want to relax, here's my little beach resort. Lie on the lounger, enjoy the samba music playing on the record player, drink the coconut drink, and when you're ready to leave, your scooter's right there to take you back to the house.

My Butterfly Garden

Slothra is surrounded by flowers in a circular shape, with statues of butterflies arranged around them

Collecting insects to create statues and then getting to pose them around places? Heck yeah. And then arranging fancy flowers all around to make a weird little installation? HECK YEAH.

My Jurassic Park

Slothra is standing next to a fenced-off area with plastic tyrannosaurus rexes, who have balls, toys, and plants for enrichment. Behind them is a small science lab, with amber, microscopes, chemistry sets, and a laptop with Nedry going "Nah-ah-ah"

Of course I'd have a dinosaur lab. I don't want to save the world, I want to make dinosaurs.

But it's fine, the dinosaurs have enrichment! They have a cat tower, a dollhouse, food, balls, and plants to play with. Except — oh wait — what's that on the laptop?

"Nah-ah-ah"

My New Orleans-Themed Restaurant

Slothra is standing in front of a collection of stuff to make it a restaurant, with a kitchen, a smoker, a booth, a table with chairs, and a giant pot.

I decided I needed a New Orleans-themed restaurant on the beach. Mostly because of the crawfish and lobster statues, the giant pots, and everything else that makes for a good restaurant. Add in KK Gumbo and it's almost like I'm there.

My Meth Lab

Slothra is standing surrounded by a chemistry set, a bunch of plastic fuel containers, a campfire, cardboard boxes, a generator, and an abandoned airline seat

Chemistry, fire, containers of chemicals, a generator, and cardboard seats? We're making drugs. Lots of drugs.

My Cemetery

Slothra is standing in the middle of a cemetery

A lovely little cemetery with a nice fence and plenty of lilies of the valley to add class.

My Cinema

Slothra is standing in the middle of her outdoor cinema, with the screen behind her and the projector next to her. There's also plenty of seating and a popcorn machine.

Obviously, I'm going to have a place to watch a lot of movies. We'll get some popcorn, we'll sit in our nice seating, and we'll enjoy everything in my Lettrboxd.

My Glastonbury Grove

Slothra is standing in front of a bunch of trees. You can just make out a small pond and some red curtains behind the trees. There's also a log and a sign that says Welcome to Twin Peaks

I am a Twin Peaks nerd. My island is going to have Glastonbury Grove so we can go into the Red Room.

My Hot Springs

Slothra stands next to a yuzu-filled hot tub, with a lounger in front of them, and a wooden hot tub and a stone hot spring behind them.

All this walking around must be wearing you out. Thankfully, I also have a nice little hot springs area to relax in. You can enjoy yuzu in a hot tub, or a stone hot spring, or a wooden tub. Either way, you are going to relax.

(I would love a yuzu-filled hot tub. I would be even happier than a capybara.)

My Farm

Slothra stands in the middle of a farm, with a tractor, a bulldozer, a covered wagon, lots of wheat, and carrots, potatoes, wheat, sugar cane, and tomatoes.

With Update 2.0, you were able to grow vegetables and start cooking things, and, of course, I had to make a farm. So here's a tiny little farm with all my farming implements.

My Jazz Bar

Slothra is standing next to a grand piano, with a fireplace in the background, a microphone in front of them, and two leather sofas in front of that

One of my tiniest little spots, a nice little jazz bar. Get some piano music, a sultry crooner, enjoy the fireplace, have a cup of coffee, and enjoy some smooth jazz.

My Theme Park

I'm also a gigantic theme park nerd. OF COURSE I'M GOING TO HAVE A THEME PARK.

Slothra stands in the middle of the theme park, with a ferris wheel, a tea cups ride, a carousel, a balloon stall, a cotton candy maker, spinning wheels, crane machines, and gachapon machines

You wanna go on the ferris wheel? You wanna go on the carousel? You wanna go on the tea cups? You want cotton candy? You want a balloon? You want to spin the wheel? You want to try the crane machine? You want to try the gachapon?

Slothra stands slightly to the left of the previous picture with the tea cups ride, the crane machine, the cotton candy maker, the spinning wheels, the balloon stall, a shooting gallery, and a gumball machine

You wanna go shooting? You wanna get a gumball? Did I already ask you about the balloon? Or the tea cups?

Slothra stands towards the back of the theme park, with a jungle gym, a pony riding toy, a bunch of spooky dolls, a tarantula, a chainsaw, a tree covered in jack-o-lanterns, a scorpion, a tombstone, and a dark and threatening well

You wanna play on the jungle gym? You wanna ride the pony? You wanna see something scary? You wanna go into the scary well? You wanna touch the tarantula? The dolls? The CPR dummy? The scorpion? Go down the scary well. Go on. It'll be fine....

Thank you for visiting!

#animal crossing #design #video games