Nintendo Switch's Animal Crossing: New Horizons was one of the most anticipated video game releases of the year, popping up just in time for quarantine in mid-March.
The new iteration came eight years after the franchise's New Leaf installment and suffice it to say, fans were beyond hyped. (And freaking out over the fact you can toast bread, among other new features.)
For those not in the know, New Horizons is set on a deserted island, but that doesn't mean you'll escape Tom Nook, a Hawaiian-shirt-wearing raccoon from whom you'll buy a home (a tent that you can upgrade) and be indebted to for most of game. Isabelle, a sweet and blonde shih tzu, will also help you get acquainted to your new digs.
Between fishing, collecting resources, hunting insects and completing goals, you'll be able to build your own paradise from the ground-up. As the game progresses, new residents (who, by the way, are all adorable) will move in.
And part of building that paradise now includes installing a masterpiece from the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection. All you need to do to add a piece of art to your Animal Crossing village is access a QR code.
The CAM has codes for you to install Anthony van Dyck's "Portrait of a Man in Armor," Vincent van Gogh's "Undergrowth with Two Figures," Titian's "King Philip II of Spain," John Singer Sargent's "A Venetian Woman," Katsushika Hokusai's "Woman Reading a Letter," Mary Louise McLaughlin's "Plaque: Portrait of Esther McLaughlin," Joan Miro's "Mural for the Terrace Plaza Hotel," Marc Chagall's "The Red Rooster," Andrea Mantegna's "A Sibyl and a Prophet," Frank Duveneck's "Florentine Flower Girl," Mary Cassatt's "Baby in a Dark Blue Suit, Looking Over His Mother's Shoulder" and Pablo Picasso's "Abstraction (Head)."
You have to access the QR codes here.
And the CAM has provided a step by step instruction guide:
- Open the Nintendo Switch Online (available for iOS and Android) app on your smart device. Tap on the Animal Crossing: New Horizons button in the app.
- If you haven’t set up the connection between the app and the game, you will need to do this first. Turn on Animal Crossing, and from the title screen, go to settings by pressing the - button on the left side of your Joy-Cons or controller. If you are currently playing a game, you will need to save and exit to get back to the Title Screen. Once you press the - button, Tom Nook will tell you about settings options. You’ll want to select “NookLink settings” and then follow his instructions to connect with the phone app.
- After connecting you will need to close and restart the Nintendo Online App. Once you restart it, select the Animal Crossing: New Horizons button again. Select the Designs icon, and then select “Scan a QR code.”
- Using your smart device’s camera, scan one of the QR codes below and save it.
- In the Animal Crossing Game, you will need to be playing as your character. Open your in-game phone by clicking ZL. Select Custom Designs and then press + to download. It will bring up a screen showing the file name you just saved on your phone. Click “OK!” and then select an empty design spot to fill. It will ask you to make sure you are ok overwriting this spot, so click "Overwrite it.” Your downloaded image will now be in your custom designs. NOTE: You can only save one image at a time in the Nook Link app, so you will need to repeat steps 4 and 5 for each image you want to download.
- Once you have the custom design saved, approach the wall or space where want to display it. Open up your in-game phone by clicking ZL, select “Custom Designs," select the desired pattern, and then select “Display Here.” If you are facing a wall, selecting “Canvas,” will hang it on the wall. If you want to display it outdoors or in the middle of the room, selecting “Painting,” will display it as a painting on an easel. While in your house, you can select down on the direction buttons to open the decorator mode. Pressing + will toggle to the wall mode, which makes arranging your paintings much easier.