The heart-tugging narrative-adventure "Pine Hearts" is coming to PC and the Switch on May 23rd, 2024
Press release:
Dundee, UK, 30th April 2024 —
The Dundee-based (the UK) indie games publisher Little [...]
I don’t know about you guys and girls, but I really like exotic and Caribbean themed games, movies and books. As a matter of fact, some of my all time favorite games, movies and books consist of titles such as “Cast Away“, “Robinson Crusoe“, “Monkey Island“, “Lord of the flies” and “Sid Meier’s Pirates!“.
This is also why I got quite excited when Wanderers informed me that their retro-like strategy/RPG survival game “Island” has landed on Kickstarter (the game is currently in development for PC, 3DS and Switch):
“Hello The Gaming Ground, We just revealed our game Island on Kickstarter, a punishing survival retro looking RPG with realistic rules inspired from real survival situations. check out more about this game project details here- https://kck.st/2HbWVXU If you like our project It’d be very helpful if you just share and retweet our ‘pinned tweet’ to your community. Thanks!” – Wanderers
You can find useable items by looking through shipwrecks, chests, boxes and so on.
That’s just the half of it though. You see, “Island” reached its 3,000 Euros goal on Kickstarter just recently (at this very moment, “Island” has managed to collect 3,872 Euros in total via Kickstarter). In other words, that means that the game is coming to PC, Nintendo Switch and 3DS in September next year. Great! But what in the name of Rincewind is Wanderers “Island” game all about then? Well, here’s the official game description by Wanderers themselves:
“Island is a roleplay and strategy game where you play as a castaway in the eighteenth century. Inspired by Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” and Jules Verne’s “L’île mystérieuse” (Mysterious Island) style and setting, and carefully crafted by a tabletop GM, the rules of the game are designed so you, the player, can quickly pick up the game, and are then quickly offered a punishing challenge.
Carefully explore a procedurally generated island. Scout areas for resources and dangers, and plan your trip with caution. Each island will offer a different challenge in matters such as accessible resources, events, means of escape, and other elements. The game’s action happens in the short and long-range views spontaneously, each side of the screen allowing you to plan your next action with a short or long-range skill, depending on what you deem the most urgent need to fulfill. ” – Wanderers
There is quite a few things that you need to keep an eye on in “Island”. For example, you can starve to death if you don’t enough food.
As for game features, here are some of the said key and launch features for “Island”:
– An adventure and a trail like you’ve never experienced before, for the PC as well as the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS console.
– Survie stranded on a randomly generated island in a punishing strategy game. For each new island, a new strategy.
– Explore the island and nearby islets, establish a base camp, collect resources, then survive long enough to be rescued or escape by any means.
– Keep an eye on each of your castway’s needs and beware of dangers lurking in the wild.
– Keep an eye on more realistic factors like your sanity, or the condition of your feet, along with more classical needs like hunger, thirst and fatigue.
– An exciting battle/hunting system that mixes TRPG battle elements with primitive hunting rules: avoid being seen or smelt, poison your arrows, don’t miss your first throw or risk the animal running away…
– No fantasy elements, nor boring repetitive actions: Always keep your mind sharp with a decision making process where the consequences of a mistake can be costly.
– Multiple realistic elements inspired by real survival situations to enhance your experience: Nights are pitch-black, and you can starve and die from hyperthermia. You can easily get lost.
– A unique game system featuring a simultaneous short and long-range view allows the player to keep an eye on every vital element of the game.
– Tame one of the island’s animals: Learn how to use each tamable species’ unique ability, then choose the companion that best fits your strategy.
– Hundreds of possible random events make every try a unique experience – Learn from your mistakes, teach yourself the most useful skill for a particular situation, and master the rules of the island.
– Keep madness at by avoiding hurting the character, wandering around too long at night without a torch, or other sources of terror.
– I insist, don’t ever, ever let your sanity go. Don’t listen to the narrator when you’re too tired.
Other than having to worry about staying alive, you also have to think about things such as distance and weather conditions as well. Why? Because every decision that you make will either punish or reward you indirectly.
That sounds rather promising and interesting I have to say. However, I am yet to try the game myself. So it remains for me to see if “Island” is worthy of our time and money or not (I asked Wanderers if there’s a demo or such for “Island” that I could try). As for here and now though, you could always watch the Kickstarter video for “Island” to get a better picture of what the game is all about =)
And with that said, what’s your take on “Island”? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!
Robin “V-Act” Ek
Editor in chief
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround
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Tags: Indie games, Island, Kickstarter, RPG, Strategy games, Survival games, Wanderers
