Science Museum Group makes collection available in Animal Crossing video game

The fifth title in the life simulation series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, was released by Nintendo in March. Players can carry out activities such as creating an island, making friends with animals and curating a museum collection. 

An Art Generator tool created by the Getty Museum allows people to upload images, which can be used in the game for patterns on clothing, wallpaper, floors and pictures. The Science Museum Group has also added a feature to its online collection for visitors to add objects into the tool. 

The museum group has also created QR codes to scan selected objects directly into Animal Crossing. These include a poster that advertised rail travel in the 1930s; a space suit that belonged to British astronaut Helen Sharman; and a ventriloquist’s dummy called Stookie Bill that was used for testing by the television pioneer John Logie Baird. 

Commenting on the initiative, Kathryn Penny, Director of the Yorkshire Games Festival, which is held annually at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, said: “While we’re in lockdown it’s great to be able to bring the Science Museum Group collection to people in new and innovative ways.  

“One of our key areas of focus at the National Science and Media Museum is video gaming and it’s exciting to see the museum brought to life in a hugely popular game like Animal Crossing. Games like this have many learning benefits for people of all ages and can also be a great source of comfort, especially at times like these.”