Summer Islands

Ein sehr schönes Remake, welches das Spielgefühl von Holiday Island (1996) sehr gut wiedergibt, dabei aber auch sinnvoll ergänzt.

Was habe ich Holiday Island geliebt ende de 90er. Summer Islands bringt dieses Gefühl zurück und macht sogar manches Besser. Das Balancing mit dem Geld funktioniert hier deutlich besser als im Original und auch das Erforschen neuer Gebäude motiviert. Anfang zunächst (2026) keine Kaufempfehlung, da insbesondere die Performance sehr schlecht war. Stand Januar 2026 Schnelle und nette Reaktion des Entwicklers. So wünscht man sich das! Klasse! Endlich wieder enspannt ab auf die Insel wie 1996!

Eine tolle Zeitreise nach Holiday Island. Kleine aber feine Wirtschaftssimulation mit Urlaubs-Modus, verschiedene Pfade die man verfolgen kann (z.B. Individual- vs. Massentourismus). Upgrades zum Freispielen und viel Charme trotz oder gerade wegen der Oldschool-Grafik. Wer anno dazumal Holiday Islands mochte wird sich hier wohlfühlen. Die Technik-Probleme aus anderen Rezensionen habe ich nicht erlebt, habe aber auch nur die aktuell neueste Version gespielt (1.05). Bis >10.000 Touristen lief alles flüssig. Hier und da gibt es noch kleinere Baustellen, die Texte im Tutorial skalieren z.B. nicht gut mit der Auflösung, und man klickt in den Statistik-Menüs auf die Gebäude "durch", wodurch alles unübersichtlich wird. Ist aber Meckern auf hohem Niveau. Empfehlenswert!

Top Spiel, für alle die noch Holiday Island kennen ist dieses Spiel ein wirklich gut gemachter Neuteil! Weiter so.

There is a lack of "information" about how to play the game (especially, about what to consider in detail and what means what), or probably I just don't get it. And there are some issues as well. But the developer implemented my resolution very quick after my request (it was unplayable without), and I want to support indie developers, so I giva a positive anyway.

New Review: So I had a lovely discussion with the developer, and went through a play of the campaign with him alongside. He showed me a few things that were not immediately obvious in the playthrough, and were not taken into account on the tutorial video in the game. With this new information, I was able to complete the campaign mission. He also has taken onboard a lot of feedback (30 points I believe were mentioned) so there may be a new update coming soon with this feedback to hopefully give other players a boost in getting the most out of this game. When it 'clicks' and comes together, it makes sense to me, and hopefully it will do to you as well. I am pleased about the constructive discussion we had, and the steps forward me as a player have taken, and he as a developer has taken from this. I look forward to a bright summer future. Original Review: **Seven attempts, seven bankruptcies** I cannot complete the first campaign mission, despite having played tycoon and management games since 1994. I am 39 years old and have considerable experience with the genre, including Theme Park, Theme Hospital, RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 and 2, Planet Coaster 1 and 2, Parkitect, Planet Zoo, Holiday Island, Two Point Hospital and Museum, Transport Tycoon Deluxe, SimCity 1 through 4, numerous Kairosoft “Story” games, Constructor and Tropico 1 through 5. Despite all that experience, I still do not understand what Summer Islands expects me to do in order to make money. Across seven attempts in the campaign and Sandbox mode, every game has eventually ended in bankruptcy. The tutorial is a video with a text-to-speech voiceover that explains the controls and only the most basic, top-level mechanics. It shows you how to interact with the game, but it does not teach you how to establish a functioning economy. After repeatedly failing the campaign, I entered Sandbox mode specifically to study how the economy works and identify what I might be doing wrong. That proved equally futile. I checked the building-influence screen, paused the game whenever I constructed anything and made sure I was not creating a single obvious negative influence. Even then, I could barely make money. I would scrape by each month, often having to save for three to five months just to afford another hotel. At one point, I spent half an in-game year placing small houses. I added volleyball courts, gelato shops and anything else that appeared capable of improving the synergy system, yet my expenses continued to exceed my income. I also received pollution warnings within the first month of the campaign every single time, without the game clearly communicating what I had done to cause them or what I was expected to change. Terrain is another major problem. Many buildings require flat land, yet every “flat” map I generated was still so uneven that I had to spend considerable time and money flattening it. This becomes especially painful when constructing an airport. You must pay to flatten a large area, then flatten additional land for the roads because they struggle with hills. Each road section costs €10,000, and the airport needs to be kept away from your main attractions because of its negative influence. You therefore spend a substantial amount of money placing the airport in a remote area and connecting it to the rest of the resort, only for it to operate at a loss until its occupancy increases. Every solution seems to require another major expense before the original investment has begun making money. It feels as though the game actively wants the player to struggle financially, without properly explaining how to overcome that struggle. The first campaign mission asks you to accumulate €5,000,000 within ten years. At my best, I was making approximately €27,000 per month. Even when I finally appeared to be making progress, occupancy would suddenly collapse across several buildings for reasons I could not identify. That would turn a small monthly profit into a severe loss, causing a downward financial spiral and effectively rendering years of gradual progress meaningless. I attempted the first campaign mission four times and failed all four attempts. I understand that management games are supposed to involve experimentation, setbacks and financial pressure. However, the player should be able to examine the available information, understand why they are losing money and make an informed adjustment. Here, I am repeatedly left wondering whether I have misunderstood an unexplained mechanic, encountered a balancing issue or simply failed to discover the one specific strategy the game expects. I loved Holiday Island and bought Summer Islands hoping it would be a modern reimagining of that game. There are some interesting ideas here, particularly the building-synergy system. Unfortunately, when I cannot establish a sustainable economy in either the first campaign mission or Sandbox mode after seven deliberate attempts, I cannot recommend the game. At that point, I have to wipe my hands of it and have requested a refund.

gut wie Holiday Island