Starsand Island

What a very well made, thought out game. So much work was put into this one! Everything just feels right. I could go on about all that I'm enjoying but yes I recommend, highly recommend. Unique too... ugh gonna love putting the hours into this title. Awesome job guys.. :)

You know when you play cosy games and finish all the content and you're sort of aimlessly wandering around? That's what Starsand is currently like, but at the beginning. Sure, there are tool upgrades and different "pathways" you can take, but nothing is compelling enough to make me *want* to grind for the upgrades. There is no main storyline other than the introduction, or even side storylines that motivate me to upgrade so I can discover more. I love a good sandbox game but I still like direction and purpose, which is the problem singleplayer Minecraft tends to have as well. The idea of building your own house (such as in the Sims, Heartopia, etc.) is amazing and so far there's a lot of potential, especially with the components available from the beginning (beams, various shaped walls and foundations, etc.). However, you have to erase your entire plot and can't do a blueprint kind of thing like in Heartopia, meaning you have to complete the building all in one sitting. There is no "clear plot" button either, so you have to get the right camera angle select everything and manually delete. (This means there's an infinite materials glitch if you delete the chests and foundations and then hit undo, btw. In case you wanna take advantage of that before it's patched.) The camera is difficult to work with, even when doing something like selecting a chest to open, fishing or petting animals. The option to go first person would be helpful. The romance options also aren't that great, particularly the men. They're mostly blonde and have the same slightly pouting face so you can't discern any sort of personality from them. The token redhead guy has the rat tail curse that a lot of 3D Chinese games cast upon their men (personal ick of mine and not genuine feedback, but I know there's others out there with the same ick so I thought it was worth mentioning lol). The women don't suffer as badly with this as the men do but all the interactions feel fairly bland and two-dimensional. If you want characters that make you feel something, then Coral Island or Fields of Mistria are where it's at. So far, Starsand is more of a "cute anime people" simulator. But considering I don't have that many hours in this game, I could be completely wrong and just haven't uncovered any of the deep lore. The lack of a proper museum is something I have a love-hate relationship with. On one hand, I'm glad I can use it as a reliable money maker instead of having to grind to complete it. On the other, I really enjoy the ACNH museum because of its interactiveness and visuals. However, there is a rewards system which gives some really cute and useful stuff, so it's not like we're not being rewarded for all our hard work. On a positive note, the visuals are pretty and I like the customisation. You can control sliders to get the perfect colour, and there are various eyelash and iris shapes to choose from in the beginning. The starter outfits are surprisingly cute for basic outfits unlike a lot of these games which is refreshing. Currently the majority of the clothes and furniture you can purchase are inspired by historical China, but it's likely we'll get more of a variety of aesthetics in future updates. The NPCs are cute and the gifts the tourists gift you when you talk to them are very helpful for early game. The mining place (Moonlit Forest?) is also a cool concept instead of the usual farming sim mines. Progression there is pretty fun and unlocking new areas to explore is cool. I like the puzzles and hidden chests. Also, it's nice that they put tents at the checkpoints in case you wanna grind for multiple days without going all the way back home. The fishing minigame is easy and very similar to Heartopia, which is a relief since I'm quite tired of the slider ones such as in Fields of Mistria and Stardew. Overall, there's a lot of potential to this game but I cannot recommend it in its current state. It's visually appealing but the typos and mechanics are severely lacking and definitely feel far too unfinished to justify the price tag.

Super cozy and has a My Time crossover with some NPCs!

希望这个游戏继续努力加油的更新更多新的好玩的内容，我觉得挺好玩的啦啦啦

This is one of my favorite cozy games ever. I was originally hesitant to buy the game due to mixed reviews, but I am so glad I ended up buying it. I believe there are some things to be improved, but overall, the game is very fun and beautifully made. Pros: - the UI/game design is so nice. I think the UI is one of my favorites, next to animal crossing new horizons - I like the 5 specialities you get to focus on, each of them requiring interesting and unique tasks - Creative freedom to design your home/land however you’d like - Unique animals, interesting mines, some boss fights (low difficulty) - The ability for the character to move at a fast pace around the map is unlocked pretty early on (roller skates, skateboard, bike rental, etc.) - Even after completing the main quests, there are lots of expensive, high-level items you can work towards getting that improve the farm Cons: - (Update) The build mode is awful. It is so buggy on the steamdeck. The LB/LT and RB/RT buttons randomly stop working, so I have to restart the game. I can’t place my house on an empty plot, but I can somehow place it on top of other buildings/structures. Any added furniture to a default layout removes itself when I try to move the building and the undo button does not undo it. It becomes frustrating when you try to redo your layout later in the game - There aren’t many cutscenes, and you have to seek out interactions with villagers. Personally, this didn’t affect my interest in the game very much, but if you’re looking for a storyline, this might not be the game for you. There is a potential for cutscenes and character storylines, maybe they should be added later on. -Sometimes when exiting your bag, the UI disappears and you have to click Back twice for it to return. (I play on a steamdeck) -In Build Mode, the LB & RB buttons to switch between items sometimes stops working and won’t resolve until the game is reopened. The same issues happen in the mines when trying to switch ammo using LB & RB. - The loading scene in and out of the mines taking FOREVER - There is not much of a variety for hair textures and styles. Additionally, there is limited diversity amongst NPCs. My character is the only brown skinned character on Starsand lol - This is just a personal thing but it bugs me that the photos for machine blueprints don’t actually look the same when you build them. All the greenery/leaves on the machine don’t show up. Also I hate hate hate hate the fact that certain machines can’t be placed indoors.

- Considering it's in Early Access there's plenty to do in game - I've had a great time with it so far. - I find the game mechanics a bit simpler compared to games like Palia which is a bonus in my eyes. - The NPCs around the island are relatively simple in personalities and dialogue but it's cute for Early Access, we'll see if this gets expanded on in the future. - I appreciated the free DLCs that come with getting the game in early access too - it's nice to get a few extra bits of furniture/outfits early in game. - Bugs seem to be addressed super quickly by the devs, an update was pushed out within like 2-3 days of people encountering a problem in game which was nice to see. Overall the game scratches the itch I get every now and then for a cute life sim so would recommend!

My bestie and I both picked it up, and we love it! It's a lot of fun and has a lot of potential and I cant wait to see all the updates.