Adventures On The Polluted Islands

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Adventures On The Polluted Islands is a single player action game. It was developed by Uncle Frost Team and was released on February 17, 2017. It received negative reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

"Adventures on the Polluted Islands" is a pixel-art adventure game with sandbox elements, where you play as a crab with a boomerang. Explore large mutated islands to help survivors, complete quests, defeat bosses, and discover secrets, all while trying to escape the dangers of radiation. With a gripping story, atmospheric soundtrack, and various objects to collect, this game offers a unique and engaging experience.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

Adventures On The Polluted Islands screenshot

+12

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66%

Audience ScoreBased on 59 reviews

atmosphere3 positive mentions

gameplay4 negative mentions

The game features a unique and intriguing environmental narrative that encourages exploration and reflection.
Its minimalistic art style and atmospheric sound design create a hauntingly beautiful experience that resonates with players.
Despite its simplicity, the game offers a charming adventure with gentle gameplay that rewards curiosity and exploration.

The gameplay can become repetitive, with many fetch quests and a slow pace that may not appeal to all players.
Technical issues, such as crashes and unresponsive controls, detract from the overall experience and can make the game frustrating.
The lack of depth in mechanics and customization options, along with poor translation and visual quality, limits its appeal to a broader audience.

story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
66%
17%
The game's story is conveyed primarily through visual elements and environmental storytelling, creating an atmospheric experience that resonates with players who appreciate subtlety over exposition. While the narrative is engaging and serves as a significant motivator for gameplay, it is often accompanied by repetitive fetch quests and simplistic mechanics, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these shortcomings, the intriguing storyline and charming exploration keep players invested in the journey through the polluted islands.
- “Instead of spelling out its backstory through exposition, it relies on visual storytelling—abandoned machinery, contaminated waters, decaying structures, and scattered remnants of a civilization that either fled or surrendered.”
- “For players who appreciate atmospheric indies, quiet storytelling, environmental themes, and games that prioritize mood over mechanical complexity, adventures on the polluted islands stand out as a quietly affecting experience.”
- “The story behind the game really makes you want to keep playing.”
- “It's an ok game, the gameplay is a bit lackluster and repetitive and lacks any explanations to the story.”
- “Weak quest design is only worsened by the slow movement speed and lack of information provided to players.”
- “The gameplay can be repetitive and there are a lot of fetch quest type of back and forth tedium.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
37%
36%
The gameplay features a blend of exploration, simple combat, gathering, and light crafting, emphasizing accessibility and atmosphere over complexity. While it offers a charming experience with its environmental storytelling and clean graphics, many players find it repetitive and lacking depth, with some wishing for more dynamic mechanics and clearer narrative explanations. Overall, it appeals to those who enjoy atmospheric indie games but may feel underwhelming for others seeking more engaging gameplay.
- “The gameplay blends gentle exploration, simple combat encounters, gathering, light crafting, and environmental problem-solving, but it keeps everything accessible and streamlined.”
- “While the mechanics are not deep in a traditional survival sense, their simplicity prevents friction and allows the player to focus on atmosphere rather than systems.”
- “For players who appreciate atmospheric indies, quiet storytelling, environmental themes, and games that prioritize mood over mechanical complexity, adventures on the polluted islands stands out as a quietly affecting experience.”
- “The gameplay can be repetitive and there are a lot of fetch quest type of back and forth tedium.”
- “It's an okay game; the gameplay is a bit lackluster and repetitive and lacks any explanations to the story.”
- “It feels unfinished, is monotonous in its game mechanics, and arguably only for kids who don’t mind killing time via endless rinse, wash, repeat.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a retro pixel art style reminiscent of the 16-bit era, which some players appreciate for its vibrant colors and nostalgic aesthetic. However, the lack of resolution options and modern graphical tweaks detracts from the overall experience, with mixed opinions on the quality of the visuals, particularly the user interface. While the game's haunting, post-apocalyptic environment is noted for its unique beauty, the execution of the graphics leaves room for improvement.
- “The game presents a haunting world wrapped in environmental decay, with a strange beauty to its post-apocalyptic aesthetic.”
- “The good - nice clean graphics, simple mechanics, interesting storyline.”
- “The graphics were okay, but the color combinations are what really make the world pop.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “The graphics and sound are similar to the 16-bit era, so keep that in mind.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
"Adventures on the Polluted Islands" is praised for its thoughtful and atmospheric presentation, effectively delivering a resonant environmental narrative through its simplicity. The game prioritizes mood and quiet storytelling over complex mechanics, making it a standout choice for players who appreciate atmospheric indie experiences that encourage reflection.
- “Adventures on the Polluted Islands, developed by Uncle Frost Team and published by Sometimes You, is a surprisingly thoughtful and atmospheric indie adventure that uses its modest presentation to deliver a quiet yet resonant environmental narrative.”
- “For players who appreciate atmospheric indies, quiet storytelling, environmental themes, and games that prioritize mood over mechanical complexity, Adventures on the Polluted Islands stands out as a quietly affecting experience.”
- “While the mechanics are not deep in a traditional survival sense, their simplicity prevents friction and allows the player to focus on atmosphere rather than systems.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The music in the game features a blend of gentle ambient sounds and sparse melodies, fostering a contemplative atmosphere that enhances both quiet and active moments. Players appreciate the relaxing qualities of the soundtrack, while the intense music during boss battles adds excitement and a sense of achievement. Overall, the music is described as decent, effectively complementing the gameplay experience.
- “I found the boss battle most enjoyable with intense music and a decent challenge; reaching a boss and beating it makes you feel like a king crab.”
- “The soundtrack relies on gentle ambient cues and sparse melodic fragments, creating a contemplative audiovisual rhythm that makes moments of silence as meaningful as moments of activity.”
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “[*] Decent soundtrack.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally recommend grinding for effective game farming, suggesting that it can be a beneficial strategy for resource accumulation and character progression.
- “The grinding in this game feels endless and tedious, making it hard to stay engaged.”
- “I spent hours grinding for resources, but the rewards just don't feel worth the effort.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding in this game quickly becomes a chore rather than an enjoyable experience.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its plausible setting and exploration of environmental collapse, which resonates deeply without being overly didactic. Players find the visual representations of recovery more fulfilling than traditional progress indicators, providing a powerful and immediate emotional connection to the game's themes.
- “The result is a setting that feels eerily plausible, touching on themes of environmental collapse without becoming preachy or melodramatic.”
- “These visual shifts are more emotionally satisfying than any numeric progress bar because they give immediate, tangible evidence that the world is recovering.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of games developed with Gamemaker Studio is criticized for being heavily focused on retro pixel shovelware and cash grabs, often featuring low-quality titles that are quickly released and accompanied by fake reviews. Many of these games are perceived as scams, with a pattern of similar release times and questionable marketing practices.
- “Gamemaker Studio is most commonly used to make retro pixel shovelware and cash grabs.”
- “They're all written in either Russian or broken English, appear at almost exactly the same time, very shortly after the game launched on Steam, all have a direct Steam purchase of the game, and the accounts are used consistently to write fake reviews for asset flips and other cash grabs/scams.”

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36%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Adventures on the Polluted Islands Review
This wasn’t fun twenty years ago. And isn’t now.
Impulsegamer.com
36%

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2h Median play time

2h Average play time

2-2h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Adventures On The Polluted Islands is a action game.

Adventures On The Polluted Islands is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 2 hours playing Adventures On The Polluted Islands.

Adventures On The Polluted Islands was released on February 17, 2017.

Adventures On The Polluted Islands was developed by Uncle Frost Team.

Adventures On The Polluted Islands has received negative reviews from players and negative reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its atmosphere but disliked it for its story.

Adventures On The Polluted Islands is a single player game.

Similar games include Caravan SandWitch, Spaceport Hope, Forager, The Gunk, Izeriya and others.

Adventures On The Polluted Islands

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