The game is a spin-off to the main Animal Crossing series and doesn't feature the usual staples of Animal Crossing games, such as fishing or bug catching. Instead, the options for designing houses have been greatly increased, with outdoor furniture in particular having been expanded upon from New Leaf 's public works projects.

Happy Home Designer can be played offline or online. It has some online features that the player can take advantage of, such as sharing the homes they designed. However, Nintendo made an announcement that internet services for the 3DS and Wii U would be discontinued on early April 2024, ending official services for some features in Happy Home Designer . Official internet services for the 3DS were discontinued in April 8th 2024, ending official support of Happy Home Designer .