The Islander
- February 13, 2018
- Boxhead Bros.
- 5h median play time
Get on Steam"The Islander is a single-player Simulation game set in a Polynesian-inspired island, where you build, farm, and customize your own island. Experience grinding and leveling up to unlock new plants, animals, and decorations, while taking advantage of the trusty cocobot assistants to help with harvesting. With around 5 hours of playtime and the option to save and start anew, The Islander promotes relaxation and creativity in building your dream farm island."
Reviews
- The game offers a relaxing and stress-free clicker farming experience at a very low price point.
- Visually appealing with cute pixel graphics and a calming soundtrack, making it enjoyable to play.
- Provides a simple gameplay loop that can be satisfying for achievement hunters, allowing for quick completion.
- Frequent crashes and lack of an autosave feature lead to lost progress, causing frustration for players.
- Limited content and gameplay depth, making it feel shallow and repetitive after a few hours.
- No tutorial or guidance, leaving players confused about mechanics and objectives at the start.
- graphics20 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their cute, colorful, and pixelated art style, which enhances the overall aesthetic appeal and charm. Many players appreciate the smooth animations and the visual design of the animals and environments, noting that the graphics are a standout feature despite the game's simplicity and limited gameplay. Overall, the visuals contribute significantly to the game's enjoyment, making it a delightful experience for fans of indie titles.
“It is a beautiful game, visually and audibly speaking, in cute pixel graphics with nice animations.”
“Cute and very fun to play, easy to get the achievements, lovely graphics.”
“To start with the positives, I really love the graphics in the game; it runs smoothly and is visibly aesthetic.”
“Graphics are what you'd expect from an indie game like this.”
“Cute graphics but it's boring, small island and not much to do.”
“I was attracted to this game because of the cute graphics, but after playing it for a few minutes, I have to say that the graphics are its best quality.”
- grinding16 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of "The Islander" is characterized by a blend of idle and clicker mechanics, offering a simple yet potentially tedious farming experience. While some players find it relaxing and charming, others criticize it for being bland and repetitive, particularly in the harvesting process. Overall, it appeals to fans of the genre, especially those looking for a casual introduction to farming simulation games.
“This can be a tedious process, but after they are done, simply mouse over them with the basket tool to harvest.”
“The fact it can be a little tedious to click the fish sometimes, and the fact you have to hunt each of these things down on the map makes it easy to lose track of them, save for the starfish which are stationary, makes it pretty tough.”
“It's an idle/grinding game that feels like it should be on mobile or a free browser game.”
- gameplay16 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a simple and repetitive loop that encourages creativity, though it lacks depth and strategic elements, making it feel limited compared to similar titles. While players appreciate the charming graphics and enjoyable mechanics, many express frustration over missing features like tutorials and save options, which detract from the overall experience. Despite its shortcomings, the game offers a fun, albeit basic, simulation experience that some players find worth the cost.
“To cut a long story short, I recommend this game; though rough around the edges, the relatively simple gameplay loop lends itself to the kind of spontaneous creativity which very often leads to delightful creations.”
“It's definitely got a fun gameplay aspect that's worth the admission cost - I would, however, like to see more added to it.”
“There isn't much there in terms of gameplay, as it's basically a clicker game, but there's a lot of charm to it due to the Stardew Valley-esque graphics.”
“As there is no tutorial, this mechanic is never explained.”
“There's no progression saves, and the lack of design to properly implement this decoration mechanic also makes it fail as a designer/creative game.”
“Gameplay has no strategy other than placing to get coins and whatever the multiplier hearts are, then adding cocobots.”
- music15 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as calming and pleasant, creating a relaxing atmosphere that complements the gameplay. While some players note that it can be repetitive, the gentle and quirky soundtrack is appreciated for its ability to distract from the game's repetitive nature. Overall, the music enhances the experience, though some players express a desire for more variety or the ability to purchase the soundtrack.
“Onto the positives though, the game has a very nice soundtrack.”
“This combined with the music made it a really relaxing experience.”
“The music is cheery and relaxing.”
“There only seems to be one musical track which plays on repeat.”
“Just quiet background music and a half a dozen sound effects.”
“The cute music that, even though it's repetitive, was calming enough to not feel repetitive, the beautiful little pixel art that all works together very well, these aspects were great - which was its greatest downside as much as its benefit because it kept making me want more of it.”
- story6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game lacks a narrative or storyline, focusing solely on the repetitive goal of earning money through crop planting. Players note the absence of quests, achievements, or character interaction, resulting in a gameplay experience that feels devoid of substance or depth.
“There's no storyline.”
“It has no storyline and only one goal: to gain more money.”
“There's no story or substance in this game; your 'character' does not interact with his environment in any way, and the only point of the game seems to be planting crops and making money to unlock more of the same.”
- monetization5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The monetization model of the game is praised for being fair, as players can progress without spending real money on in-game purchases. While it resembles a free-to-play mobile game, it avoids forced wait times and microtransactions, making it a commendable choice for those looking for a casual experience. The developer's asking price of 2.99 euros is seen as reasonable for the quality offered.
“You won't need to fork out actual money for in-game purchases to get anywhere.”
“Feels like a free-to-play mobile game, but thankfully there's no forced wait times and microtransactions.”
“This is where the inaccurate advertising starts.”
“Feels like a free-to-play mobile game, but thankfully there's no forced wait times and microtransactions.”
“The dev of this little game does indeed deserve the 2.99 euros it's asking and commend it for not being a cash grab sucky little mobile game with in-game transactions.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, players appreciate the game's graphics and smooth performance, but they highlight significant optimization issues, including crashes, a lack of a save feature, and problematic AI behavior that obstructs gameplay. Many users feel that with updates focused on stability and performance, the game could greatly improve, especially for those with capable systems.
“I'm working with a beefy enough system to run Ark for 6 hours straight without any performance issues while I have over a dozen tabs open looking up crafting information for various things in-game on my second monitor, so something like this game should not be having a problem with me moving a few wheat fields around.”
“Easy, fun, relaxing, addicting, but needs more content and optimization.”
“To start with the positives, I really love the graphics in the game; it runs smoothly and is visibly aesthetic.”
“This could be improved with an update to stability and performance to avoid crashes, adding a save feature, and perhaps changing how cocobots work so that they do their jobs as intended and do not block your field of vision for your island. Why design if you can't see your designs?”
“I'm working with a beefy enough system to run Ark for 6 hours straight without any performance issues while I have over a dozen tabs open looking up crafting information for various things in the game on my second monitor, so something like this game should not be having a problem with me moving a few wheat fields around.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is criticized for being poor, with users reporting significant bugs, particularly with the save function, leading to a perception that the game is broken and potentially abandoned.
“In my tests, the save function for this mode is buggy.”
“The game is broken, buggy, and appears abandoned.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game has mixed reviews regarding replayability; while some users find it lacks value and is completed quickly, others praise it for its infinite replayability.
“The game offers infinite replayability.”
“The variety of choices and outcomes keeps me coming back for more.”
“Each playthrough feels fresh and engaging, making it hard to put down.”
“It doesn't have replay value, and believe me, the game is not long, so you're done quickly.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by the presence of amusing collectors, possibly aliens, which adds a whimsical and entertaining element to the gameplay experience.
“The humor in this game is absolutely hilarious, especially with the funny collectors (aliens?) that you encounter.”
“I couldn't stop laughing at the witty dialogue and quirky characters throughout the game.”
“The comedic timing and absurd situations had me in stitches from start to finish.”
