Starsand Island Early Access Review – I’m Moving Here… Immediately

I love all things cozy and farming-related, and I’ve had Starsand Island on my radar screen for years. From the moment the game was first announced, the developers highlighted it as a relaxing experience that will allow you to get away from the stresses of daily life. That’s something I’ve been desperately needing lately, so I was thrilled to hop into Starsand Island as soon as it released for Early Access.

Developed and published by Seed Lab and Sparkle Lab, Starsand Island begins in much the same way as most farming/crafting simulations: you move to a new home, in this case the titular Starsand Island, meet several new friends (many of whom are also eligible bachelor/ettes) and then spend your time farming, crafting, fishing, decorating, and getting to know your new neighbors. It focuses on what makes the life sim genre so great, and does well in this regard. Sometimes you just want to kick back and relax, chop some wood, rearrange the furniture in your house twenty different times until you’re finally satisfied, and then invite a cute girl to watch some fireworks with you.

There seems to be a bit of an overarching story – a few characters have mentioned the island having its secrets, although I didn’t get far enough to discover them. That’s not a bad thing, though. The reason I didn’t make much progress in what story may exist is simply because I was having so much fun doing a million other things instead!

Starsand Island utilizes what I would describe as an open progression system. There are tasks that you may be assigned – other islanders may have requests for you that you need to fulfill, for example – but, in general, you do things because you want to do them, and progress in the areas you want to progress. Leveling up your various skills nets you rewards such as blueprints and outfits, so you can see a cute hat or interesting recipe and decide to progress towards it. I really like this system; it truly does feel relaxing because there is really no pressure. While I tried to do a little bit of everything, any play style you prefer is totally valid. Want to go all-in on farming and ignore fishing? Focus entirely on making your house look as awesome as possible? You can do that, and the game isn’t going to punish you for it.

The developers have repeatedly emphasized that they want Starsand Island to be about relaxing, and they succeed in a spectacular way. None of the mechanics are overly complex, and the gameplay, gentle music, and bright pastel color palette combine to make a truly soothing experience. More than once while playing I zoned out and realized close to an hour had passed while I was standing there chopping wood, or I sat down to plant a few seeds and ended up with an entire field of crops successfully planted instead.  Starsand Island is truly a world where you have no worries, no time pressure, and no deadlines breathing down your neck. It’s the kind of relaxation myself, and probably many other gamers, need these days.

And, of course, no farming simulation is complete without a cast of bachelors and bachelorettes to befriend and potentially romance. I am pretty satisfied with Starsand Island’s cast of romanceable NPCs. There are a whopping fifteen options, and they respresent a pretty big spectrum of looks and personalities. I had absolutely no question who I would be prioritizing for raising Affection, though – Zephyria the Explorer Club leader, I will spend as much time exploring the Moonlight Forest with you as you want. As of this writing, I have not yet managed to make Zephyria fall in love with me, but dang it, it WILL happen!

Let me just quickly mention a few other things I really enjoyed about Starsand Island. One is traversal. You can use devices such as bikes and scooters to get around the island, and I love it. The traversal feels really fluid, and you can get places quickly without any hassle or stress. With a fairly large island to explore, it’s important that they let you move around using something other than your own two feet early in the game. Another is the animals. This game has some of the most adorable animal designs I have ever seen. They’re just so cute and pleasant-looking, and I want all of them on my farm forever. Especially the capybaras. I want like, fifteen of those please. And the cats. And the sheep. And the rabbits. And… okay, yeah, just, I want all of them.

I do want to make it clear, though, that Starsand Island is still in Early Access, and there are definitely a few bugs that still need to be ironed out. New areas can take quite a while to load, and animations (particularly wood-chopping) can sometimes look a little wonky, especially if you have your character do the same actions repeatedly for too long. I didn’t personally encounter this, but some people online have also mentioned a bug where animals will randomly spawn in and out on their farm. It’s an Early Access title, and the developers are definitely actively working on fixing things, but you definitely might encounter a bug or two during your time on the island.

Overall, Starsand Island is a satisfying new addition to the cozy life simulator genre. Players who are looking for a deep and complex story may be disappointed, but I personally found the “progress as you want” system to be the game’s strength. It has a cute art style and some adorable romance options, a good variety of mechanics (farming, fishing, crafting, exploring, decorating and more) and so many adorable animals you can adopt. Life simulator enthusiasts or anyone looking to just slow down and relax a bit in their daily life should definitely give this game a try.

Kate played Starsand Island on PC via Steam using a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing.