Island vibe games, huh? They kinda sneak up on you with their chill. So, ISLANDERS: New Shores – lazy name if you ask me, just tacking on a subtitle like it’s gonna make all the difference. Anyway, it’s this puzzle game where you plop down stuff on islands. No rush, though. You could probably fall asleep mid-move, and nobody would notice. Delightful, right? Somehow it manages to keep you hooked with cute, simple graphics and tunes that make you feel like you’re floating.
You start on this tutorial island. Not gonna lie, kinda boring at first, but then you realize there’s more to it. You’re building next to related things to score more points – cities next to markets, that sort of thing. It’s surprisingly engaging, like, “Hmm, maybe this shaman hut looks nice by the sea.” Oh, and you pick from building cards like Brickmakers or maybe Seaweed Farms. Never thought I’d care about seaweed, but here we are. You place stuff, score points, unlock more cool stuff – rinse and repeat.
Once you’ve had your fill of one island, you jump to the next. There’s this whole point tally thing, and there’s something about boons or whatever that boosts your score too. They make a bigger deal out of it than it actually is, I think. Anyway, there’s High Score Mode if you’re feeling competitive, and then there’s Sandbox Mode for when you just want to mess around. Design your own island and build whatever. It’s like being a kid with a sandbox — minus the sand in your shoes.
Played it on Switch 2 (or was it a dream? Who knows), and it went mostly smooth. Occasionally frustrating because things don’t move around as they should. You’d think after placing hundreds of little buildings, I’d stop caring, but nope, still annoying. A mouse mode would help, but no dice.
The game’s got this new shine compared to the old one, more detailed or something. Made me appreciate it more, I guess. Chasing leaderboards isn’t my thing, but seeing your score climb is weirdly satisfying. Might just keep it on the home screen forever just to relax at the end of the day. It’s that kind of game. Easy to love if you liked the first one, probably gonna draw newcomers too. Just a cozy little getaway on your Switch – nothing earth-shattering, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
