We're all at home these days thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but culture-lovers who are missing museums may enjoy a video game that allows players to build their own art gallery.

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A screenshot of an art gallery in Animal Crossing
A video game allows players to build their own art gallery © Getty Center

The art generator tool has been developed by the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and it is designed to be used in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a life simulation video game developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch console. The game allows players to design a dream island lifestyle from their homes. They can plant and grow fruit trees, trade clothing with friends, design their house, invest in stalks and collect bugs.

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A screenshot of a girl standing in front of an orange tree with an art easel in Animal Crossing
The art generator tool has been developed by the Getty Center in Los Angeles © Getty Center

The Animal Crossing Art Generator tool allows players to add museum artworks to the game. "You can now wear Van Gogh’s Irises on your shirt, add a Renoir or Monet to your wallpaper, rep Rembrandt on your island flag, or host your very own art exhibition," the developers say. The generator makes it possible for any image in Getty Center’s open-access collection to be transformed into a mini artwork for Animal Crossing.

A screenshot of a girl in a lounge in Animal Crossing
The game allows players to design a dream island lifestyle from their homes © Getty Center
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Players can search art and artists from the collection, and scan the generated QR code to bring the artwork into their game where it can be used on clothing, wallpaper, canvas and more. The tool also contains an IIIF manifest converter so that open-access artworks from other museums can be easily transformed and shared for use in the game.

A screenshot of a girl with aan easel in Animal Crossing
Any image in Getty Center’s open-access collection can be transformed into a mini artwork for Animal Crossing<em> </em>© Getty Center

For step-by-step instructions on adding art to Animal Crossing using a QR code, please see Getty's blog post here.

Keep up to date with Lonely Planet's latest travel-related COVID-19 news here.

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