Highlights
- Animal Crossing fans have become attached to NPC characters like Wisp the Ghost, who gives players rewards once they help him catch all five spirit fragments.
- An artist on Instagram created a tufted Wisp the Ghost rug inspired by Wisp's design in previous Animal Crossing games.
- Tufted rugs based on video game characters have gained popularity among fans, allowing them to decorate their spaces with accents from their favorite franchises.
An Animal Crossing fan created a Wisp the Ghost rug. The beloved ghost has appeared in many Animal Crossing games, including its current iteration Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and gives players rewards once they help him catch all five spirit fragments.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, many players have become attached to certain NPCs such as Wisp the Ghost, who often wanders around random locations on the island at night. He will become a permanent fixture in players' gameplay after they catch his spirits, where he'll offer them "something new or something expensive" as a gift. He could also be invited to Photopia on Harv's Island, The Roost in the museum, and the archipelago in the Happy Home Paradise DLC.
Because of Wisp the Ghost's popularity, many Animal Crossing players have made art inspired by him. One unique creation came from artist babytuft on Instagram, who made a tufted Wisp the Ghost rug. It was based on Wisp's design in Animal Crossing: City Folk and Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo, where he was wearing a genie hat with a single multicolored feather. In an Instagram post, babytuft said Wisp was her favorite Animal Crossing character ever since she started playing in 2002.
The artist also shared her Wisp the Ghost rug in the Animal Crossing subreddit, where many fans complimented her work, calling it "cute" and "fluffy." One even joked that Wisp might lose his spirits again if people stepped on the rug several times. Another Reddit user commended babytuft for her hard work as they recognized just how time-consuming tufting could be. Meanwhile, babytuft's Instagram page and Etsy store have other video game-related rugs, such as Squirtle from Pokemon and Buzzy Beetle from Super Mario, as well as rugs based on popular cartoons.
Tufted rugs seem to be a popular choice among many video game fans nowadays as artists get a lot of engagement whenever they share the finished product. Most recently, a Pokemon fan finished an impressive Weezing rug for a commission. Other artists and rug makers in the past drew inspiration from titles like World of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The growing interest could be attributed to people wanting to decorate their spaces, and adding accents from their favorite video game franchises.
The Animal Crossing franchise already has a rich roster of NPCs that many players could use as inspiration for their artworks. It's still possible for Nintendo to introduce more in future games, but for now, players will have to wait and see.