''Coral Island'' is a 2023 farm life sim developed by Stairway Games and published by Humble Games. It plays similarly to '' Stardew Valley'' and is set on a

tropical island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Gameplay

Players control a character who has become disenchanted with city life. After moving to a small farming community on a tropical island, they are given an overrun farm to work. Besides fixing up the farm and planting crops, players can explore a nearby mine, where they can find rare resources guarded by monsters; talk to and romance the

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

s (ocean NPC relationships are not fully released); donate rare items to a local museum; and clean up a toxic

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

in the ocean, which is functionally similar to exploring the mine and includes ocean shops and NPCs. Players can also recycle trash to gain resources, such as scrap. Planned release of ocean NPC relationships is May 20, 2024.

Development

The developer, Stairway Games, is in Indonesia, which inspired the setting. Its 3D art style is influenced by Disney animation. ''Coral Island'' had one of the most successful video game crowd-funding campaigns of 2021. After it entered early access in October 2022, Humble Games released ''Coral Island'' for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on November 14, 2023. Shortly after its release, an imposter account on social media targeted fans with

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...

scams. ''Coral Island'' does not feature any NFT content.

Reception

''Coral Island'' is often compared to '' Stardew Valley'' and has been called one of the best ''Stardew Valley'' clones by multiple gaming publications.

Early access

'' Rock Paper Shotgun'' said the early access release was a little buggy in October 2022 but was overall mature. They recommended it to players looking for a game similar to ''Stardew'' that has quicker rewards and less grinding. ''

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...

'' said that although the gameplay was similar to other farm sims, especially ''Stardew Valley'', ''Coral Island'' implemented it well and added their own unique twists. Reviewing the game in May 2023, '' TechRadar'' said they were "thoroughly excited" by its roadmap and said ''Coral Island'' proved to them that there was room for more farm sims.

Release

On release, ''Coral Island'' received positive reviews on Metacritic. '' Siliconera'' said that, although not innovative, it builds upon its influences and add quality of life improvements. Although they called it essential for farm sim fans, they suggested that people hold off for bug fixes on the PlayStation 5 version. '' TouchArcade'' said it "feels unfinished in parts" and may have left early access too soon. However, they said it has "a fantastic base to build on" and is a "joy to play" on the Steam Deck despite some technical issues. '' GameSpot'' included it in a list of hidden gems released in 2023 and called it "a breath of fresh air" for the genre for its tropical setting, large and diverse cast, large map, and compelling story. At the 2023

Steam Awards The Steam Awards are an annual user-voted award event for video games published on Valve's Steam service. Introduced in 2016, game nomination and voting periods are concurrent with Steam's annual autumn and winter holiday sales, centered around th ...

, ''Coral Island'' was nominated for the Sit Back And Relax award.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.stairwaygames.com/coral-island 2023 video games Windows games PlayStation 5 games Xbox Series X and Series S games Single-player video games Indie games Role-playing video games Life simulation games Farming video games Humble Games games Unreal Engine 4 games Video games developed in Indonesia Video games set on fictional islands Kickstarter-funded video games