Simple strategic building game

ISLANDERS is a minimalist city-building game from Grizzly Games. In it, you will need to build your own city on different islands by strategically placing homes, buildings, farms, resorts, and even towers. It is a competitive game, but the competition is with yourself. How much can you build? How long can you build until you paint yourself in the corner? Islander is a relaxing strategy game you’ll love to play. 

Build, build, build

ISLANDERS is a light and breezy game. The only thing you’ll do is to place the structures that it provides around a colorful island to build your city. Sounds easy, right? However, there is more to the game than a little sandbox experience. It is not just about an endless supply of islands for you to scroll around and craft tiny cities on. There are still rules and goals that you need to meet. 

The game starts with you working on a small island with a small selection of buildings to create. You get corresponding points every time you put down a building. Note that the points depend on how you place your buildings. The closer they are to a complementary structure or certain natural features, the higher the point you get. Also, the more buildings you place, the more types you get to choose from.

There is a catch, however. Each island in the game has limited space and resources. You need to be very careful where you place your buildings because you cannot access the next island until you reach a certain point threshold. Blow your space and made a disjointed city, and you’ll be stuck on that island forever. Another thing to be wary about is that once you’ve placed your building, you can no longer move them.

Repetitive but fun

ISLANDERS doesn’t offer anything but building a city and it can sure be repetitive, especially early on. But when you manage to get to the bigger islands and unlock badass structures like a gold mine, it can be pretty fun. Not to mention the delight you’ll feel when you drop a 40-point building. Moreover, the longer you play, the easier it gets to turn an empty island into a thriving civilization. It is like creating a bustling SimCity without applying all the stress along the way.

Also, what makes ISLANDERS even more soothing is the fact that you don’t compete with anybody else. Sure, there is a leaderboard that shows how you fare against other players out there, but the most prominent information focuses on your best scores. 

Of course, when you think about what makes the game great, you cannot discount its beautiful design. Thanks to its colorful graphics, seeing your city come to life is always nice. Even if you manage to create a busted city, it will still look lovely.

A satisfying game

Overall, ISLANDERS is a very simple game. It has a very soothing pace that will have you enjoying your time playing. Sure, there are still some aspects missing, such as the lack of roads, vehicles, and other things that you usually find in a city, but the challenge of placing a structure in the right place makes up for it. There is also little stress in the game, other than the little tension you will feel when you run out of buildings to place, and you’re just shy of reaching the point goal. But, all in all, it is a game that lets you play at your own pace. If you enjoy city-building and strategy games but don’t want to pull your hair out, this one is a must-try.