Starsand Island

I booted up Starsand Island hoping for sunlit beaches, lazy skate sessions and a mellow life away from city noise — and for the most part that’s exactly what I found. Seed Sparkle Lab delivers a bright, coastal sandbox that borrows the best bits of cozy sims (think Stardew or My Time at Portia) while adding its own 3D identity. The island is immediately inviting: animals to pet, gardens to plan and little ruins to poke at. Still, early access shows through in rough controls, occasional performance hiccups and a not-so-great community backstory that some players have loudly criticized.

Island life, your way

The core loop of Starsand Island is deliciously simple: explore, collect, craft and decorate. You’ll farm tropical crops, tend animals, fish, mine and build terraces and houses piece by piece. Movement options—rollerblades, longboards, scooters and small boats—make getting around a joy even when the map is big, and I frequently found myself just cruising the coast for the view. Quests guide you early on but the game quickly hands you the reins; you can save anywhere and even rollback, which is a huge quality-of-life win in this genre. Combat exists (in foggy ruins and mining zones) but it’s light—more an exploration hurdle than a full action system.

Little systems that try to stand out

Where Starsand scores is in its toybox of features: deep building with blueprints, rideable animals, fish tanks you can customize and a surprisingly generous set of collectibles and decorations. NPCs have routines, will gift you things and gradually reveal backstories through voiced scenes (though full voice acting is limited). There’s also a crafting/job progression and mining exploration that feed into each other—the ores unlock new builds, builds unlock new conveniences, and so on. Some mechanics feel unique enough to make the game more than a 3D Stardew clone: the terrace gardening and the blueprint sharing ideas can be genuinely addictive when you’re in creative mode.

A beautiful island that needs polish

Presentation is the game's emotional anchor: colorful, warm visuals, cute animal models (capybaras, bunnies, rideable pigs—yes really) and a soundtrack that leans into breezy, coastal vibes. On my Windows rig the world looks lovely at ultra, and photo mode + filters make for ridiculous screenshot sessions. But the shine is uneven: translation can be stiff, UI elements are often cluttered and hard to read, and vehicle controls (cars/chariots) can feel janky on slopes. Performance varies between players—some report smooth play, others hit stutters even on decent hardware. Accessibility options and keybinding exist but certain controls (tool wheel on controllers, for example) are awkward and still need refinement.

Starsand Island is a charming, ambitious cozy sim that already delivers many satisfying moments—building, gardening and cruising the coast are genuinely delightful. However, it’s an early access title with performance hiccups, some clunky systems and a loud community debate about the studio’s choices that may put off potential buyers. If you crave a relaxed island sandbox and don’t mind EA roughness, pick it up on sale or wait a bit; otherwise, keep an eye on fixes and transparency changes.