Blathers is a bit of a contradiction. He’s a world-renowned curator who is deathly afraid of a common housefly. Yet, he manages the Animal Crossing New Horizons museum, an architectural marvel that somehow fits an entire aquarium, a butterfly house, and a deep-sea trench inside a tent that used to sit in a patch of weeds. Honestly, if you haven't played the game in a while, you probably forget just how massive the scale of this place actually is. It isn't just a digital checklist for completionists. It’s a masterclass in virtual museum design that rivals real-world institutions like the Smithsonian or the Natural History Museum in London.
Most people treat the museum as a dumping ground. You catch a sea bass, you realize it’s the hundredth one you've seen today, you run to Blathers, and you spam the "B" button through his frantic explanations of why fish are slimy. But if you actually stop walking? The lighting shifts. The acoustics change. It’s weirdly peaceful.
Building the Animal Crossing New Horizons Museum From Scratch
Getting the museum started is the first real "grind" of the game. You don't just get a building; you have to earn it. It starts with Tom Nook—who else?—asking for five creatures. You give him a couple of moths and maybe a crucian carp, and suddenly, he’s on the phone with his old friend Blathers.
Once Blathers arrives in his little yellow tent, the real work begins. You need 15 more donations. This is usually the point where players start hoarding bugs and fish in plastic tanks outside, creating a sort of makeshift zoo on the grass while waiting for the construction permits to clear. When the Animal Crossing New Horizons museum finally opens its doors, the transformation is staggering.
It feels big. Really big.
The lobby is clean and Echoey. It has that specific "museum smell" you can almost imagine through the screen—a mix of floor wax and old dust. But the genius of the design isn't in the lobby; it’s in the way the exhibits flow into one another. It isn’t just a series of rooms. It’s a curated journey through time and biology.
Why the Fossil Wing Is Actually a Lesson in Evolution
If you walk into the fossil section, look at the floor. You’ll see lines. These aren't just decorative; they are a literal phylogenetic tree. If you follow the lines from the entrance, they lead you through the evolutionary history of the organisms on display. It starts with the simplest life forms and branches out toward the massive skeletons like the T-Rex and the Diplodocus.
There’s a specific spot in the final room of the fossil wing. It’s a silhouette cutout on the far right. If you stand there, a light shines down on you. It places the player character—the human—at the end of the evolutionary line. It’s a subtle, brilliant touch that most players run right past.
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The fossils themselves are surprisingly accurate. Nintendo worked to ensure that the skeletal structures of the Triceratops or the Megaloceros reflect actual paleontological findings. When you finish a skeleton, the way the camera pans up to show the scale of the creature is genuinely impressive. It makes you feel small. That’s exactly what a good museum is supposed to do.
The Art Gallery and the Redd Problem
Later in the game’s life cycle, we got the Art Gallery. This added a whole new layer of frustration and reward. To fill this wing, you have to deal with Jolly Redd, a fox who is essentially a black-market art dealer operating out of a sketchy boat.
The Animal Crossing New Horizons museum doesn't accept fakes.
If you buy a "Wistful Painting" and the girl in the portrait is wearing a star-shaped earring instead of a pearl, Blathers will politely—but firmly—tell you that you’ve been scammed. It’s a crash course in art history. You start learning the difference between a real The Night Watch and a counterfeit. You look for the subtle smudge on a fake Serene Lady.
Once you actually donate a piece, the museum provides a plaque. Read it. It’s not just flavor text. It contains actual history about the artist, the period, and the technique used. The lighting in the art wing is also different from the rest of the building. It’s warmer, more focused, designed to highlight the textures of the canvases.
The Aquarium Is the Crown Jewel
Ask anyone what their favorite part of the Animal Crossing New Horizons museum is, and nine times out of ten, they’ll say the fish.
The aquarium is divided into three main sections:
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- The freshwater rivers and ponds.
- The shallow saltwater reefs.
- The deep-sea abyss.
The tank design is incredible. In the freshwater section, there’s a massive cylindrical tank where the salmon and trout swim in circles. If you go at the right time of day, the sunlight filters through the "water" and hits the floor in shifting patterns.
Then there’s the "Big Tank." This is the massive window into the ocean where the Whale Sharks and Great Whites live. If you sit on the bench in front of it, the game’s music actually fades out. All you hear is the low, rhythmic thrum of the water pumps and the muffled bubbles. It’s a sensory experience that captures the "Liminal Space" feel of a real aquarium after hours.
And let's talk about the lab. Behind the scenes in the fish wing, there’s a little area with extra tanks and research equipment. It suggests that the museum isn't just a display—it’s a working scientific institution. It gives the world a sense of "lived-in" reality that many sims lack.
Dealing with the Bug Wing (Even if You Hate Crawlies)
Blathers hates bugs. He thinks they are "foul creatures." This makes the bug wing somewhat ironic because it is arguably the most beautiful part of the entire building.
The butterfly room is a highlight. It’s a multi-tiered greenhouse filled with tropical plants and a fountain. If you donate enough species, the air is thick with color. They land on the flowers. They flutter around your head.
But it’s the details that get you. In the back of the bug wing, there is a laboratory where you can see ants crawling through a wall-mounted farm. If you look closely, they are actually carrying bits of leaves. There’s a beetle fight area where, if you've donated the right species, two large stags will occasionally lock horns. It’s a dynamic environment. It doesn't feel static.
The Roost and the Social Experience
With the 2.0 update, we got Brewster and The Roost. This was the missing piece. A museum needs a cafe.
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The Roost is tucked away in a corner of the upper floor. It’s dark, quiet, and smells of expensive beans. It’s where the NPCs hang out when they aren't wandering your island. You might find Isabelle taking a break from her 24-hour shift, or maybe a random villager like Bob just staring into space over a cup of Blue Mountain.
It anchors the Animal Crossing New Horizons museum as a community hub. It’s not just a place to look at dead things and trapped fish; it’s a place to exist.
How to Actually Finish Your Collection
Completing the museum is a test of patience. It’s tied to the real-world clock. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, you aren't catching a Stringfish in July. You have to wait until December. This forced "slow gaming" is why the museum matters. You can't just binge-watch your way to a finished collection. You have to live through the seasons.
If you want to finish it, you need to be strategic:
- Check the Critterpedia. It tells you the active hours. Some bugs only appear on palm trees after 11 PM.
- Use Nook Miles Tickets. If your island is "out of season" for a specific fish, a mystery island might have what you need.
- The Art Market. Join online communities like Nookazon or Reddit’s r/NoFeeAC. People often trade genuine art for free or for small amounts of materials.
- Don't forget the diving. Deep-sea creatures like the Gigas Giant Clam are required for the museum but don't show up on your fishing rod.
The Animal Crossing New Horizons museum is a rare example of a game mechanic that encourages education and mindfulness. It rewards you for paying attention to the world around you. When you finally get that gold plaque in the mail for completing a section, it feels like a genuine achievement because it took a full year of your life to get there.
Next time you’re on your island, don't just run in to drop off a fossil. Walk through the butterfly house. Sit by the big tank. Look at the art. Blathers worked hard on this place, and honestly, so did you.
Actionable Steps for Museum Completion:
- Sync with the Seasons: Open your Critterpedia and sort by "Leaving This Month." Prioritize those catches first, or you'll be waiting another 365 days.
- The Redd Strategy: Use a real-world art guide to compare the paintings on Redd’s boat. Look for the "Haunted" versions of art—some fakes change their appearance at night, which is cool but won't count for your donation.
- The Fossil Assessment: Even if you’ve finished the fossil wing, keep bringing them to Blathers. Identified fossils sell for significantly more bells than unidentified ones, and they are great for gifting to villagers to increase friendship levels without ruining their house decor.
- Daily Diving: Set aside ten minutes a day for sea creature hunting. Many players forget this wing exists, but it’s often the hardest to finish because of the sheer variety of shadows.
The museum is the heart of the island's history. Treat it like a sanctuary, not a chore.