Mini Circuit

Mini Circuit is Animal Crossing’s playful take on slot car racing—the tabletop hobby where miniature cars are guided by a groove (“slot”) in the track and controlled with a hand throttle.

Slot racing has been around a long time: the earliest commercial slot cars are often traced to Lionel sets sold in 1912, but the modern boom really took off in the late 1950s, when companies like Scalextric popularized home sets with sectional track and realistic model bodies (Scalextric dates its debut to 1957). In the 1960s, slot cars exploded into a mainstream craze—home sets, clubs, and dedicated raceways—before cooling off in the 1970s as other entertainment (including video games) pulled attention away.

Today, the hobby is very much alive, but it’s evolved into a mix of nostalgia and tech: enthusiasts still race classic analog sets, while newer systems add digital features (like multiple cars sharing a lane and more advanced control), alongside better motors, more detailed bodies, and a thriving collector scene.