Players are able to customize their own islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but there are limits to how big one can get. It is impossible to increase the size of the islands, but increasing the height of an island is possible through the usage of cliffs. However, even these cliffs have a limit on how high they will go.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows players to design an island that fits their specific tastes, whether that be a unique design of their own making or one modeled on something from real life or fiction. With a multitude of items for decorating, terraforming options, and bridge building, players have many options when it comes to island design. These features were expanded in 2021 with the release of ACNH's 2.0 update along with the Happy Home Designer DLC, with the latter revolving around designing the ideal homes for various iconic Animal Crossing villagers.
While unique Animal Crossing island designs and decorations are an important part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, changing the layout and shape of the island is where players really have to get creative. However, there is a limit to what can be done to an island. The island’s perimeter cannot be increased, meaning the only way to truly expand after making full use of the environment is to build upward.
Players Can Make ACNH Islands Bigger By Increasing Building Size
Increasing the size of buildings, like the town hall, museum, and the player's home are expansions available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. A bigger home means more room for décor. However, no expansion increases the size of the island. This limit allows 11 villagers, including the player, to reside on the island, and this limits the amount of usable land space. The only way to add extra land to the island is by adding cliffs through the Island Designer app available on the NookPhone.
The Island Designer app allows players to express personal Animal Crossing island design ideas by removing or adding water and cliffs. A poorly placed pond can be erased and replaced with a cliff. Waterfalls can be added to the edge of cliffs to make waterfalls. But as creative as terraforming can be, there are limits. Only four cliff levels can be added, and three of the cliffs are climbable. When the fourth cliff is attempted to climb, a warning appears to tell players climbing any higher is dangerous.
Despite the fun cliffs can add to the game, these too limit the available workspace. Every cliff that is added, has to be added one space away from the edge of the previous cliff. The higher a player goes up the less space is available for decoration and buildings.
Happy Home Designer marked the end of significant content add-ons to ACNH, even with Animal Crossing players petitioning Nintendo for more updates, so it's unlikely that any changes will be made to allow players to increase island sizes in the future. However, it may be something for a future Animal Crossing game to implement. More space could increase the number of villagers on the island and add more creative space to play with. Until then, Animal Crossing: New Horizons islands are only able to go four cliff levels high, with only three of those levels easily accessible.