May 12, 2020

Put the Olde Gaol Museum in Animal Crossing

Are you enjoying Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Nintendo’s Animal Crossing games are lovely peaceful games, perfect for this time of social distancing. Game players share an island with animal characters, and daily tasks include fishing, catching bugs, gardening, and popping balloons out of the sky.

The Animal Crossing games are a wonderful introduction to museums. Blathers, an owl, accepts bugs, fish, fossils and art for donation. As more items are donated, the museum requires expansion to display the items. With each donation of fish and insects, Blathers will give some information about them. When fossils are brought in, he will assess and identify them, and the player then has the option to donate the fossil. When art pieces are brought in, Blathers can identify if the piece is fraudulent or the original. These are all actions your local museum can provide in real life.

Hold on! Was this possible...? Could it perhaps be...? Has the dream finally come true? Yes! The museum's collections are completely, thoroughly complete! Hoo! Simply stupendous! No town can boast of a bigger or better collection that the one here in [player's town]. Oh the generosity that made this possible! My thanks to you and all who supported this dream. You have my deepest gratitude. And may ALL who love this place as much as you know it too. For a museum is only as good as its patrons, and people like you have made it a most magnificent place!
—Blathers, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, upon completing the museum

Are you making donations to your museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

How To Put the Olde Gaol Museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Custom designs can be made within Animal Crossing, which is a great way to wear your own patterns and designs. And now, custom designs can be uploaded to the game. Museums around the world have been taking advantage of this fun feature to bring art to your Animal Crossing town.

Here’s how you can get the Olde Gaol Museum into your game. (These instructions are from the Getty Museum with helpful screenshots.)

Download the Nintendo Switch app to your phone.
Sign in to your Nintendo account.
Select “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” under Game-Specific Services.
Connect to NookLink.
Get your Nintendo Switch and open Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
From the home menu, hit the - button to access game settings.
Follow the prompts by Tom Nook to get access to “NookLink Settings”
Once your mobile device and Switch are connected, use your mobile device to access NookLink.
Tap the pink Designs icon.
Scan one of the QR codes below.
Open Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Switch.
Access your Nook Phone.
Select “Custom Designs”.
Hit the + sign to download new patterns.
Select a blank design pattern to replace with your new pattern.
Use this pattern on canvas and paintings or anything you want!

So far we have two items you can add: a photo of the gaol and a W.A. Goodwin painting.

Be sure to send us screenshots of our museum pieces in your Animal Crossing town! We’d love to see what you create!

The Olde Gaol

W.A. Goodwin

Note: the Animal Crossing version of “Our Camp on Crab River” has more red/rust colour to it than the original. Some of the more delicate colouring was lost during the translation to the smaller format.

Want to try more?

You can upload your own designs following the Getty’s instructions and using this Animal Crossing Patterns Tool. Have fun and be sure to send us screenshots of what you create!