Animal Crossing fans are creating the illusion of sky islands

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gives players a lot of flexibility in building their islands, but there are limits to that freedom. You can’t, for example, tear away your island completely and freewheel it on the ocean or the air. But you can make it look like you did, with some clever know-how.

A little perspective, along with some pattern magic, can go a long way. Clever Animal Crossing players on social media have recently started sharing pictures of town halls, museums, and houses that appear to be suspended in the sky, a feat that is magnified through some good furniture placement along with detailed artwork. Patterns — which you can also download — make it seem like things are held up by long scaffolding, and then enveloped in the abyss. Bridges help tie everything together and complete the look.

Many Animal Crossing folks seem to be taking cues from Twitter user jin_men56, a whiz at creating scenery with good depth of field. Below, you’ll find some other folks who took some of jin_men56’s patterns or ideas and put their own spin on them. Others, like Instagram user cybearizons, take the opposite approach by creating the appearance of mini ocean islands — but the same basic concept applies.