For many, the Nintendo Switch video game "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" came at just the right time. The game was released just days after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. on March 20, 2020.
When you start the game, you arrive on a deserted island and are tasked with making the town there more hospitable to a whole host of animal villagers.
The games offers players tons of customization options to decorate their island.
Lansing resident Kaleigh Klosowski has put more than 1,000 hours into the game but recently decided to build her island as a tribute to the town she lives in.
Over the past year and half, she has connected with other players across the globe through an Instagram account she runs.
"I'm always talking about Michigan on my page, and I'm, like, well, seems like the best thing to do to have people come visit me is to make my city. So, I figured I would make Lansing basically, so people could come tour it."
Klosowski has spent a lot of time taking iconic Lansing landmarks like the Frandor Shopping Center and the state Capitol building and using creative ways to put them in the game.
"I customized the outside of my house so that it was white. And then to make it look, I guess, tiered and look a little bit more like three-dimensional, I have the backside of some wedding pipe organs that are kind of stacked a little bit this way," she said.
"And then on top, I have like a wedding [or] like nuptial bell-type thing that sits on top, so it's like the dome of the Capitol Building."
She said the pandemic has been a big reason for this project, especially since she wasn't enjoying things last year she typically would in the city like Lugnuts games at Jackson Field.
"As soon as we couldn't go, I'm like, 'How am I going to not go and get my Oreo churro and hang out and watch the game?' Like, I need something to scratch that itch a little bit. So, that's why I'm like, I need to start making some of these things, [and] I need to be able to experience them again.
She still has work to do to finish her vision for the island including building Michigan State University's campus and making the inside of Horrocks Farm Market look just like its real-life counterpart.
Animal Crossing players can use her dream code, DA-1447-7412-6244 to visit.
And for those who don't have the game, WKAR's Sophia Saliby took a tour of Klosowski's island to see all the sights.
The State Capitol Building
REO Town
Old Town
Jackson Field
Potter Park Zoo
Frandor
Other Popular Spots