What a lovely little game Islanders: Console Edition is. It's the kind of game that you can boot up for five minutes of fun, or you can spend hours zoning out with. The goal is to populate procedurally generated islands with homes and facilities, creating miniature pockets of civilisation. In High Score mode, everything that you build adds to a score total, and hitting specific score thresholds opens up islands that are usually bigger, or more complex. Chasing higher and higher scores quickly becomes addictive.
The beauty of Islanders is how simple it all is. Unlike most building-based strategy titles, you're not scrolling through endless menus looking for the right bits and pieces. Instead, the game presents you with two different building sets every 'turn'. You pick the one that you want, and then you place each piece on your island(s), with thoughtful placement earning you more points. For example, throwing all of your lumber mills together will net you negative points, while properly spacing them out, and putting them alongside trees, bags you bonuses. It's really easy to find your rhythm, and watching your score steadily increase is satisfying.
Meanwhile, if you're just here to relax and create detailed island dioramas, Sandbox Mode is the way to go. Here, you can build to your heart's content without having to worry about score modifiers, switching islands at will. And it helps that Islanders is very aesthetically pleasing; there's real satisfaction to be found in the simplistic art style as you decorate each landscape.
Oh, and a photo mode is available at all times, letting you take snaps of your creations. Again, lovely stuff.
Comments 5
Itβs a phone game. Might buy it for 5 bucks.
I had this in my Steam list, it looked very cool. Although my concern was that version was more rogue like and based on doing a run. In other words, once you finished, the island was wiped and you start again to try to hit a better score, learning as you go.
Is this console version the same concept? Or can you create and save multiple islands?
@Cheems That's actually the cost on PSN
@frankmcma It's the same in this version. In High Score mode, you get your score high enough to unlock a new island, and you move on to the new one β no going back. You can save your progress and quit whenever you want, though β it doesn't reset or anything.
In Sandbox Mode you're free to just do whatever. Still one island map at a time, but you're not pressured by scores or anything.
Trailer looked like it basically tells you where the best spot to place is. Is that true?
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