Starsand Island combines the life simulation elements of games like Animal Crossing with the farming sim elements of games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley. It’s clear that the goal when creating the game was likely to bring together the best parts of those genres to build a world that’s untouched by the harsher parts of the real world. The ultimate idea of a cozy game, if you will.
Starsand Island starts off with the typical story that your character is tired of the normal corporate life and decides to return to the small island they grew up on, pursuing a slower lifestyle. Now, you get to spend your days catching up with old friends, meeting new people, building bonds, and enjoying hobbies.
I love life simulators and farming simulators, and Starsand Island is a combination of both. I grew up playing the old Harvest Moon games, and later picked up games like Stardew Valley and Heartopia. While my tastes in games changed as I grew up, cozy games have always had a place in my heart. Because of that, I was obviously excited to play Starsand Island.
A Fast Tutorial for a Slow Life
Starsand Island throws a lot at you from the start, but not in a way that’s overwhelming. It helps that the game uses a smartphone menu to sort all the information that you’ll want to have easy access to as you learn the game.
I actually thought it was nice that the tutorial doesn’t drag out, and it doesn’t feel like a chore, even though I’ve played a lot of cozy games and the mechanics tend to be similar across the genre. At the same time, I don’t think that it’ll feel too fast for new players who aren’t as familiar with this style of game. If anything, I’d like the option to skip the tutorial when the first part of it pops up, because I’ve played so many games like this that it’s pretty much works the same way.
It helps that Starsand Island lets you decide what you want to focus on during your game, so you’ll naturally end up learning more about that aspect as you play. As a result, the tutorial just needs to give you the foundation that you can build on as you see fit, whether that’s through exploring and getting to know the NPCs, or through farming and caring for animals. After all, the core of a cozy game is its ability to let you decide how you want to escape from the world for a little bit and enjoy a slow life.
The Colorful Characters Give Starsand Island Life
Meeting new characters in Starsand Island means that you get to see a cutscene that shows you the essence of those characters. I love this approach, especially since you can romance NPCs. This gives you an idea of which NPCs you might want to consider for a romance, if they’re an option, and which ones don’t suit you.
So far, I’ve found it rather easy to raise affection with NPCs as well, so I don’t think it’ll take long to reach max hearts with one. However, I’ve been focusing on exploring and crafting more than building relationships.
You’ll find that the island is filled with tourists who roam around. You can speak with them, and usually you’ll get a gift when you chat with them. While they help make the island feel alive and like a place people want to visit, I’d love to see residents of the island roaming around more than they currently do. Interacting with tourists just doesn’t feel as fulfilling as building relationships with the residents.
I mean, if I was deciding on a location where I want to live to break away from corporate life, I wouldn’t pick a tourist attraction, even if the tourists are kind. Right now, Starsand Island feels like a tourist attraction rather than a place where there’s a close-knit community. While having a close-knit community and being a tourist attraction aren’t mutually exclusive, it just lowers the coziness level for me.
The Many Activities of Starsand Island
Starsand Island brings together most of the activities you’d expect from a farming life simulator. There’s crafting, cooking, ranching, farming, driving, exploring, and more options beyond that. I decided to dive into crafting first, as I generally enjoy crafting systems in games, whether it’s a cozy game or an MMO. However, the game lets you choose what skill you want to try out first.
What’s nice is that after you pick your first activity, you’ll get letters in your mailbox from other NPCs who can teach you other activities. They’ll introduce themselves and what they can help you learn. As an example, I got a letter from Francis within the first days of my game where he let me know that I can find him at the AquaBlue Outpost to learn fishing from him.
The hobby that’s the most unique would be combat, for which you’re given a quick tutorial about how to use a slingshot. You get a few sentry bots to use just in case you need help fighting, and you’re sent on your way. This is part of the explorer track, and you’ll have to use your combat skills. However, there’s no way to tell what creature is an enemy until they’re moving toward you to attack, unless it’s a boss. Still, I would’ve liked more information about the kind of creatures that you’ll fight instead of just how to use a slingshot.
The only downside is that if you went to learn every skill right as you get the letters, you’d likely get overwhelmed and have too many quests you’re in the middle of at the same time. It’s more worthwhile to take a slower approach to Starsand Island and get familiar with one activity at a time through its quests and completing errands.
That’s not to say that you can’t decide to pick up every activity right away. I simply prefer to try one at a time, and crafting alone kept me quite busy for a long time, especially once you start exploring and find new blueprints to use.
Starsand Island is Filled with Simple Joy
The draw of cozy games is often how relaxing they are, making them perfect choices for stress relief. Starsand Island doesn’t put pressure on you. I can play at my own pace, even if that means I get distracted by new areas or items instead of working on quests. The only time that’s bad is when you’re doing an errand, which is time-sensitive.
There are times where I find myself just standing in an area that has music I like and listen to that along with the animal sounds in the background. With it currently being the middle of winter, it’s refreshing to have the sights and sounds of virtual nature around me.
It clicked that this is what cozy gaming is all about. I’ve been playing so many demanding games lately that have left me frustrated at times and stressed. Then, Starsand Island proved to be a welcome change. I’m not in charge of saving the island or any other task with high stakes.
I know that Starsand Island isn’t perfect, and I ran into some audio glitches where sounds looped when they shouldn’t. I also ran into issues with subtitles where they weren’t in English, which is what they’re set to, so I had no idea what the NPC was saying. However, these are quite minor issues, and I didn’t run into any game-breaking glitches.
In general, I got what I expected from Starsand Island. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it doesn’t need to. It’s refreshing because it’s different, and there’s potential for more content to be added in the future. In the end, I enjoyed my time playing, and will continue to do so.
Starsand Island is a game that I will undoubtedly spend hundreds of hours in. Since it seems like the developers plan to continue adding content after the initial release, I know that I’ll keep returning to the game in the future. After all, it gives me the feeling of returning home.
Reviewed on PC. Game code provided by the publisher.
Starsand Island
Starsand Island is a cozy game that gives you the feeling of coming home. It includes everything you expect from a cozy game, but there are minor improvements that could be made, such as having fewer tourists in favor of focusing on island residents. However, it's easy to jump into and you can sink hundreds of hours into its peaceful world.
The Good
- There's no pressure
- Freedom to play how you want
- Cute and comforting vibes
The Bad
- Audio glitches
- Subtitles can glitch and leave you uncertain about what's being said
- Often more tourists than residents roaming
