10 Animal Crossing Island Design Ideas For Squid Game Fans

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a definitively cozy game, but simulating Squid Game is the perfect way to put a dark spin on it. Since the initial release of the hit Netflix show Squid Game, fans of Animal Crossing have been using different parts of the show for inspiration for different games and design elements in the game. There was even a series of different YouTube streamers inviting players to take part in different mini-games for impressive Bell prizes rather than their lives.

With the recent release of the second season of Squid Game, Gi-Hun is back in the arena, and this might be the perfect time to try out some of the new games on the shores of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The last major update for New Horizons also came after the initial wave of popularity for the TV series, so there's plenty that's been added in between seasons.

10 Venture Into The Design Portal

Custom Designs Are The Perfect Fan Content

One of the best ways to combine your Animal Crossing experience with any TV series is the wonder of the Design Portal in New Horizons. This multi-purpose online tool is a feature available for those who subscribe to the Nintendo Switch Online program, and for players who aren't so creative, it might be the best place to get some of the paths — or suspicious red stains — for designing areas or doing photo shoots.

For more dedicated players, the Design Portal is a great way to get some of the more niche items like the honeycomb cutouts or even the paper ddakji squares for recreating scenes. There are also some more specific patterns like the black coffins with pink bows being available as paths or umbrella patterns.

9 A Sinister Fashion Moment Ahead

Not-So-Innocent Cosplay

Not only are there numerous design options available in the Design Portal for paths or other environmental decorations, but there is also an assortment of Squid Game-themed outfits for players to explore. From the dress that the robot wears in the Red Light Green Light Game to each level of security staff, Animal Crossing: New Horizons custom designs have an outfit for every cosplayer. These are easily accessible and can be found by searching for Squid Game-related keywords and switching to the Design Portal Pro+ Designs in the menu.

The level of detail available in these outfits also varies, so there are plenty of options with or without bloodstains and an assortment of different players' numbers. Of course, Seong Gi-Hun's Player 456 is the most popular, but players can also choose to design their own outfits to cosplay some of the newer characters, like the mascots featured in the earlier episodes of Season 2.

8 Make A Red Light Green Light Arena

The Easiest Game To Recreate

Reimagining Squid Game's iconic first game in Animal Crossing is one of the best ways to combine the two experiences. Whether setting up the perfect scene in Harv's photo studio or on the player's island, creating your own Red Light Green Light mini-game isn't particularly hard to achieve. This was also done by a popular gaming YouTuber, Nikachu, who hosted a Squid Game event and used one of the ocarinas available in New Horizons to simulate the music that would play between each stage.

This is a fun challenge that many players have done, as it is fairly easy to play with a group of friends or to test out different musical instruments. There are plenty of places to draw inspiration from, as many popular YouTubers and streamers have made their own game arenas and have tutorials available.

7 Recreate The Ddakji Subway

Another Great New Horizons Option

As one of the key locations outside the game arena, the subway ddakji games are a perfect area to recreate using different furniture items from New Horizons. Players can get the ddakji designs on the Design Portal and use some of the new reactions that have been added in the final update to emulate the surprise for each round. This was originally shared in the Animal Crossing subreddit by Reddit user Dingogou, but the recreation of the first episode's ddakji scene would be a fun challenge for anyone.

This could be done in either Harv's photo studio or in a dedicated area on the player's island, so there are limitless opportunities to turn this location into a cuter version. Shame there isn't a slap reaction to make it a bit more realistic, though.

6 Become Pink Guards With Friends

An Evil Team-Up

Not only does the Design Portal allow players to make themselves into characters from the show, but with the new perspective of the Pink Guards being shown in the TV Show, maybe it's time to become the villain of your island. This is a perfect photo opportunity to create cute photos with a darker meaning with friends or other villagers.

The Pink Guards in Squid Game have become an iconic focal point for the series, as they are the primary people that viewers see outside of the players. There are plenty of different designs available on the Design Portal that include hats, full-body outfits, and even hoodies that would allow players to recreate these characters.

5 Trap Islanders In Stressful Photoshoots

Photography Is A Major Opportunity

Forced photography is one of the more entertaining gameplay aspects of New Horizons. To recreate some of the better scenes from the series, consider using your island residents as extras in curated photo shoots for different games or portions of the story to illustrate more of your photographic expertise. Try out photoshoots that include a stressed-out villager that has just broken their dalgona or perhaps one that has fallen into a trap hole and will be eliminated.

There are many opportunities for players to use their eye for Animal Crossing photography and some of the more iconic scenes from Squid Game are perfect for creating some tense or entertaining photos. There are few things that are more fun than simulating a bit of a massacre by putting a wolf on a yoga mat.

4 Run Your Own Secret Squid Game Island

Go The Whole Nine Yards

Since Animal Crossing New Horizons has a big emphasis on playing with others, round your friends up at a fully themed island to play Squid Game. Unfortunately, you might need to use your imagination — and a lot of workaround items — if you want to recreate the exact games in the show. Still, it's easy enough to create an experience for friends that would see players eliminated, with a big Bell prize at stake. Consider giving a consolation prize to the eliminated or having them come back to make the games harder for the remaining contestants.

Doing this would enable players to utilize their entire island to try to explore these games, or at least the vast majority of them to make bigger arenas to accommodate larger groups of players. It also gives players a chance to be the game-maker, if only for the day. The easiest to recreate is Red Light, Green Light. You play as the doll, Young-Hee, and have friends over to try and reach you. The music items — like the record player (and some K.K. Slider songs) or ocarina — are all that's needed.

3 Create Your Own Mingle Experience

A Memorable Season 2 Addition

Season 2 of Squid Game introduced a new game called Mingle to the franchise that could be more easily recreated in New Horizons than some of the other games. The game relies on a carousel platform and requires players to enter a safe location based on the number that the voice has said. While it won't be at the cost of a life in Animal Crossing, the Mingle game from the show could be easily done with some of the stands and room dividers from the shops on the island and the Design Portal.

To recreate this game, players would need to make a circular arena and have a set number of panels to hide behind to designate the safe areas. From here, someone would pick a number for teams to try to get into and use a timer or other method to give players a chance to hide.

2 Build Your Own Pink Motel

Step Away From The Games

One of the other new locations introduced in Season 2 of Squid Game is the hotel that Seong Gi-Hun bought with his Season 1 winnings, Pink Motel. This kind of dingy hotel would be a perfect place to recreate now that Happy Home Paradise has been added to New Horizons. With the additional exterior and interior design capabilities that the DLC added, this unique take on a motel offers several rooms that players could recreate.

Players could use the vacation homes to build places like Gi-Hun's home, the opening lobby seen in some episodes, and Gi-Hun's armory. There are limitless opportunities for using this new location to your advantage for strange interior design challenges and even building rooms full of money.

1 Host A High-Stakes Treasure Hunt

Put That Wealth To Use

Unfathomable wealth is not unheard of in New Horizons, especially now that the Turnip Market has been exploited for several years, so outside of hosting your version of Squid Game, having a singular game for players to participate in to win large amounts of money or rarer items like Nook Mile Tickets would prove to be an incredible amount of fun.

The biggest draw to Squid Game, after all, is the amount of money that would be instrumental in changing someone's life, so there's no good reason not to spread some Bells around your friends or community members. Having a Treasure Hunt is a great way to incorporate some of that stress for a prize at the end with the low-stakes nature of a cutesy game like Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Source: Nikachu/Reddit, Dingogou/Reddit, AccomplishedCamel79/Reddit