Card Survival: Tropical Island

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"Card Survival: Tropical Island" is a card-based survival game where you must navigate life as a castaway on a deserted island. With a simple but deep system, players must explore, craft tools, and manage their needs to survive. The game features realistic simulations, tons of content, and character creation, with choices determining your physical and mental traits, skills, and starting conditions. Explore more than 16 different environments and track various aspects of your character's health and well-being.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 600 reviews

gameplay43 positive mentions

grinding29 negative mentions

The game offers a deep and complex survival experience, with intricate mechanics that require strategic thinking and planning.
Frequent updates from the developers show their commitment to improving the game and responding to community feedback.
The card-based interface, while simple, allows for engaging gameplay that feels immersive and rewarding.

The user interface can be clunky and overwhelming, making inventory management tedious and difficult.
Some mechanics and recipes are not well explained, leading to confusion and frustration for new players.
The game can feel punishingly difficult, with a steep learning curve that may deter some players from continuing.

gameplay
140 mentions
31 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Card Survival: Tropical Island" is characterized by its deep and intricate mechanics, blending survival, crafting, and exploration within a simple card-based interface. While the game offers a rewarding and addictive experience, players note that it can be challenging due to opaque mechanics and a steep learning curve, often requiring external guides for better understanding. Overall, the game is praised for its engaging gameplay loop and the balance between simplicity and complexity, making it a compelling choice for survival game enthusiasts.
- “Under its deceptively simple gameplay, lies a deep, complex and intuitive simulation.”
- “The gameplay involves a mix of managing supplies, planning, crafting, and surviving.”
- “The game has an internal 'wiki' that gives quite detailed info on mechanics, skills, items, etc.”
- “The only complaint I have about this game is that a lot of mechanics are completely opaque.”
- “Gameplay mechanics are too random and inconsequential.”
- “If you enjoy games that focus on survival being entirely RNG, that don't hold your hand at all, has no tutorials for even the UI aspects, expects you to learn everything about the game through trial, error, and clicking on and through everything or by using player-made guides, where the 'easy' mode is brutally difficult and unforgiving, and that is somehow extremely simplistic in mechanics yet complex in design, then this game is entirely for you.”
graphics
49 mentions
22 % positive mentions
71 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as simple and stylized, prioritizing functionality over visual extravagance, which enhances the immersive survival experience. While some players initially found the graphics underwhelming, many noted that the engaging gameplay and deep mechanics more than compensate for the lack of high-end visuals. Overall, the art style effectively supports the game's themes, making it appealing to those who value gameplay over graphical fidelity.
- “Extremely realistic, really fun and intuitive design and great graphics!”
- “The graphics are simple but on point, giving you that immersive island vibe that'll make you feel like you're right there, fighting for survival.”
- “The sound effects and visuals also support the fantasy of this game and allow the player to fully immerse themselves into the tropical island survival situation.”
- “The only thing holding it back is the graphics.”
- “I do like the item/card based graphics, but the art itself could have been done a bit better; otherwise, it would be 10/10.”
- “Not gonna lie, if the art direction, artwork, and confusing and difficult user interface are deal breakers for you, then don't buy this game.”
grinding
29 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight that the game features a significant amount of grinding, which can be both enjoyable and tedious depending on the player's perspective. While some players appreciate the depth and micromanagement involved, others find the inventory management and skill leveling to be overly cumbersome, especially in the mid-to-end game. Overall, the game is described as addictive and fun, but it may require patience due to its grindy mechanics.
- “But my god does it get tedious, and pretty quickly.”
- “The mid-to-end-game is a horribly unbalanced, tedious micromanagement fest.”
- “The game is very grindy and time-consuming, often in a mindless zombie way.”
replayability
18 mentions
50 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability due to its diverse character builds, customizable perks, and the ability to create unique survivor experiences, despite the static nature of the island. Players appreciate the depth of mechanics and the introduction of random events, which enhance the replay value significantly. While some find late-game micromanagement tedious, the overall consensus is that the game offers endless replay possibilities, especially with ongoing updates and character customization options.
- “Additionally, you can purchase a different set of perks or challenges at the start of each game, which adds greatly to the replayability.”
- “Great replayability value, not because you're seed hunting trying to get a perfect start, but because you have to survive to unlock tailored survivor experiences or completely different situations.”
- “The replayability possibilities are endless with unlocking new perks and creating custom scenarios and survivors.”
- “My only negative point can be expressed as a simple question - how to get longevity and replayability from this as a standalone title?”
- “I have high hopes for this in the future as the devs seem active and a bit more content would help replayability in the long run.”
- “The newest update at the moment (character creation) adds some long-ish term goals (unlocking perks to customize future characters) and adds a lot of replay value to a game that already feels easy to pick up and play over and over again.”
story
18 mentions
22 % positive mentions
61 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The story aspect of "Card Survival: Tropical Island" is characterized by a minimalistic narrative that allows players to create their own experiences through gameplay, leading to personal and imaginative storytelling. While the game lacks extensive narration and structured plots, players find themselves immersed in their characters' survival struggles, crafting unique backstories and scenarios that enhance the overall experience. The blend of strategy and survival elements contributes to a rich, albeit player-driven, storytelling environment.
- “In summary, 'Card Survival: Tropical Island' is a masterclass in game design - a perfect blend of strategy, survival, and storytelling.”
- “So while I was technically just moving cards around, in my mind I was living through a vivid story where I suffered a broken leg from a boar attack, made a makeshift splint, crawled back to some water puddles to stay hydrated, prayed for rain because I had developed a fever and needed more water than the puddles provided, tried to subsist on coconut water (but it gave me diarrhea and I also couldn't climb trees to get more coconuts due to my broken leg), eventually succumbed to sleep on the grass bed in my small cave, and then died from dehydration while the rain started pouring down, because I was too weak to wake up.”
- “Despite it being completely card-based, it feels like you're actually creating a story and I find myself imagining my character as doing all these things, whether it's cooking fish by the fire at the beach or digging up mud from a puddle in the jungle.”
- “That's practically all the story there is; the game doesn't have much of a narration, and the sparse in-game texts are mostly just matter-of-factly explanations.”
- “Despite it being completely card-based, it feels like you're actually creating a story, and I find myself imagining my character as doing all these things, whether it's cooking fish by the fire at the beach or digging up mud from a puddle in the jungle.”
- “(there isn't a story though, so that can't be spoiled at the very least)”
optimization
10 mentions
30 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has seen some performance improvements from the developers, but significant issues remain, particularly in areas with many items, leading to long load times and performance drops. Players express a desire for better streamlining or automation features to enhance quality of life, especially during late-game scenarios. Overall, while the game offers engaging optimization challenges, its performance can detract from the experience.
- “One of my best games if you like optimization.”
- “Devs have been making a lot of performance improvements which helps some, but some streamlining or automation ability eventually would be nice from a quality of life perspective.”
- “In its base game, the game's progression is mostly comfortable - but you will probably die a number of times until you learn the optimized routes - and the world gets dynamically more and more difficult as time progresses.”
- “Devs have been making a lot of performance improvements which helps some, but some streamlining or 'automation' ability eventually would be nice from a QoL perspective.”
- “The game desperately needs some sort of optimization or workaround.”
- “It also could use some late game optimization; when moving to zones with lots of items, load times can be a bit long.”
humor
7 mentions
86 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as a mixed bag; while some players find it genuinely funny and engaging, others feel it can be overshadowed by frustrating gameplay mechanics. Overall, the humor adds a layer of enjoyment, but its effectiveness varies among players, with some appreciating its charm and others finding it lacking.
- “This game is very funny and has rich content, great potential, but it is cumbersome to operate.”
- “What is funny is that I would have never thought this would be that fun to play.”
- “Totally absorbing, challenging, with a dash of humor.”
- “Quiet and somewhat unfunny, but kind.”
music
7 mentions
14 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
43 % negative mentions
The game features minimal music, opting instead for immersive environmental sounds that enhance the 'sole survivor' experience, such as waves, crackling fire, and jungle crickets. Many players appreciate this choice, finding it preferable to a repetitive soundtrack, and enjoy the ability to listen to their own music while playing. Overall, the sound design contributes to a soothing yet engaging gameplay atmosphere.
- “I play this game frequently while listening to music and podcasts, as the gameplay is soothingly simple while still presenting enough of a challenge to keep me fully engaged.”
- “The lack of music and voice-acting, combined with subtle sound effects, further enhances the immersive 'sole survivor' experience.”
- “There is no music, just peaceful environmental noises like the waves on the beach, the crackling of the fire, and crickets in the jungle, which I much prefer to a looping soundtrack and could always put my own music on in the background if I really wanted to.”
- “There is no music, just peaceful environmental noises like the waves on the beach, the crackling of the fire, and crickets in the jungle, which I much prefer to a looping soundtrack and could always put my own music on in the background if I really wanted to.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally well-received, with users noting that it effectively creates immersion, though it lacks standout elements. The resource management mechanics contribute to a unique experience, allowing for extensive customization that enhances the overall ambiance.
- “Amazing resource management game with a great atmosphere and a huge range of custom options allowing you to tweak difficulty, from basically idiot-proof easy to literally impossible.”
stability
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Overall, users express a positive sentiment regarding the game's stability, noting that it runs smoothly and performs well without significant issues.
- “I hope this doesn't sound too critical - I love your game! It runs great, looks and sounds good, and I'm inspired by it!”
- “The game has been incredibly stable since the last update, making my experience smooth and enjoyable.”
- “I've had no crashes or major bugs, which really enhances my overall enjoyment of the game.”
emotional
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional aspect of the game impactful, often leading to genuine reactions such as laughter and tears, highlighting its ability to evoke strong feelings.
- “My husband got a good chuckle because I cried a real tear about them, lmao.”
monetization
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Reviews suggest that there are concerns about the game's monetization strategy, with some users fearing it may resemble a cash grab typical of EA. However, there is also a sense of optimism that the developers are genuinely invested in the game's success and future projects.
- “This feels like just another EA cash grab; it's hard to believe they genuinely want to create amazing video games after this.”
- “The monetization strategy is overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
- “It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it feel like a chore to enjoy the game.”