ISLANDERS: New Shores Review

ISLANDERS: New Shores is a minimalist island city-builder that is the follow-up to ISLANDERS, which was released on consoles in 2021. I was a big fan of that relaxing building game, so I was super excited to try out this new title and see what has changed in the sequel. Will it still be as fun and addictive to play, or have they made it feel drastically different?

ISLANDERS: New Shores starts teaching you how to play before you even get to the main menu, it just starts giving you instructions like move the camera and zoom in. Like the first game, you move the camera around the island and rotate it to find the perfect location to place the structure you want to build. This is the core of the gameplay, moving the item you want to construct and trying to find the location that will maximise your points. Pressing the right thumbstick will show you what other buildings or structures will give you a bonus, so it gives you an idea of where to look.

There are two different modes that you can play in ISLANDERS: New Shores: Highscore and Sandbox. In Highscore, you travel to one of 20 islands and build to compete for the highest score on the leaderboard, allowing you to compare your score to your friends and to other players worldwide. If you run out of buildings before you have enough points for more, or to move to the next island, it’s the end of your run.

If chasing high scores isn’t your thing, there’s another mode to try. Sandbox is perfect for when you just want to build to your heart’s content and create the island of your dreams with no constraints. Here, you’ll also find new building types, Twitch integration, and a Photo Mode to take snapshots of your masterpiece.

I primarily played the score mode, and you are given a choice between Building Packs. I selected the Brickmaker, and I could place a Brickyard or a Sandpit. Select one and move your camera around — it shows you how many points you’ll get by placing the structure in that spot. Explore to find the location worth the most points. Moving ever so slightly in one direction can vastly change the number of points you earn, so trying that building piece rotated can help it fit and earn more. As you place structures, you’ll earn points. Once you level up, you’ll get a new pack of buildings to construct. Your run is done when you run out of pieces to place.

There is a large variety of islands to visit. One can be tropical with multiple beaches, while the next is a snow-covered tundra, or even a volcanic island. I can’t imagine that building on the side of a volcano is safe! As you play, the land masses change and evolve over time, like day changing to night, rising mountains, and receding waters when you hit a new score checkpoint. Each map has you selecting a new type of building or monument that rewards you with a large point combo if placed in a good spot.

If you’ve played the first game, you’ll notice that the scoring for the buildings you’re placing has changed a bit. Instead of getting points for putting farms near each other, you now get points for farms that are touching, connecting them to others. Some building placements even make you lose points if the text is red. You may think the spot you selected will work well, until you notice that it’s minus 80 points, not a bonus for building in that location.
The other big change is that now, on each island, you earn Boons that can help you out in difficult situations. Some, like Bargain, allow you to pick a building you want to make a copy of, but this continues through multiple islands and gives you a single option for your Building Pack for +5 times. Others, like Duplicate, make a copy of the rightmost building in your toolbar. Some Boons are more positive and don’t have a downside, like Blossom, which makes flowers and trees in one area worth two points each instead of one.

Visually, the game looks really nice, especially islands like the volcano, which look vibrant with lava running down the sides into the ocean surrounding it, or the cold tundra with snow falling and ice chunks floating in the water. The structures you’re placing look quite simple and not super detailed, but that makes sense when you consider how many you’ll be placing and their small size. Control-wise, it’s pretty simple to play, but when you’re trying to find the exact spot to place your item, even using the precise control option, it can be finicky and requires you to play around with moving the building before hitting that spot.

This game is so addictive to play and full of strategy, especially when you are trying to beat someone else's score. Having to select between two different types of buildings always makes me wonder if I made the right choice, or if the one I didn’t select would have been better for the terrain on this island. I found it easy to lose track of time when I was so focused on the placement of each building to make sure I maximised my points. ISLANDERS: New Shores is a perfect relaxation game to sink yourself into!