The home of architecture and design in the Asia-Pacific

Get the latest design news direct to your inbox!

Interior Designers are now helping people remodel their homes, in a video game

The Nintendo game Animal Crossing has taken the world by storm and it turns out the interior designs that work in the real world have been a big help to people designing their ‘virtual spaces’.

Interior Designers are now helping people remodel their homes, in a video game

For many people the release of one of the most anticipated games of the year, Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch, flew right under the radar. You could be forgiven for dismissing this cute game about building your own settlement on an island with a group of friendly animals as ‘something for the kids’ but the game has very much hit the mainstream. Since its release a month ago, Animal Crossing has been attracting players of all ages worldwide, even actor Elijah Wood has apparently built his own Island home in game.

And while there have been some reports of it destroying the odd relationship or two:

The game has been pretty well received. So well received that some, desperate to improve their virtual homes, have enlisted the aid of interior designers. Digital video game publication Polygon has recently released a video explaining how interior design techniques applied to the game can be used to make players virtual spaces feel more like a home:

And somehow they actually work. Despite this being a game where a raccoon landlord constantly harasses you for the rent you owe him these real world techniques when applied make the virtual spaces roomier and more like a place you’d actually want to live. You can also invite friends who have the game around to check out your newly designed spaces, something that, because of COVID-19, we can’t do in real life anymore.

In fact there’s a good chance the Animal Crossing world is now better than the real one. They have their own economics system:

You can visit art galleries:

And like we said earlier impress your friends with your amazingly designed spaces:

 

actually… maybe scratch that last one.

 

 

INDESIGN is on instagram

Follow @indesignlive


The Indesign Collection

A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers


Indesign Our Partners

Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!

Powerful presence, silent service: Gaggenau’s Dishwasher 400 Series

Powerful presence, silent service: Gaggenau’s Dishwasher 400 Series

In design, the concept of absence is particularly powerful – it’s the abundant potential of deliberate non-presence that amplifies the impact of what is. And it is this realm of sophisticated subtraction that Gaggenau’s Dishwasher 400 Series so generously – and quietly – occupies.

Cooking from the heart, designing with precision: Chef James Won and Gaggenau’s culinary partnership

Cooking from the heart, designing with precision: Chef James Won and Gaggenau’s culinary partnership

To honour Chef James Won’s appointment as Gaggenau’s first Malaysian Culinary Partner, we asked the gastronomic luminaire about parallels between Gaggenau’s ethos and his own practice, his multidimensional vision of Modern Malaysian – and how his early experiences of KFC’s accessible, bold flavours influenced his concept of fine dining.

The uncharted plate: Ivan Brehm’s pursuit of crossroads cooking with Gaggenau and human connection.

The uncharted plate: Ivan Brehm’s pursuit of crossroads cooking with Gaggenau and human connection.

In this candid interview, the culinary mastermind behind Singapore’s Nouri and Appetite talks about food as an act of human connection that transcends borders and accolades, the crucial role of technology in preserving its unifying power, and finding a kindred spirit in Gaggenau’s reverence for tradition and relentless pursuit of innovation.

Dynamic dazzle of radical restraint: Gaggenau’s 200 Series Flex Induction Cooktop

Dynamic dazzle of radical restraint: Gaggenau’s 200 Series Flex Induction Cooktop

Gaggenau’s understated appliance fuses a carefully calibrated aesthetic of deliberate subtraction with an intuitive dynamism of culinary fluidity, unveiling a delightfully unrestricted spectrum of high-performing creativity.

Related Stories


While you were sleeping

The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed