On a small island grows a tree of life.  Animals sprout from this tree with little symbols dangling from their heads that gives them their job.  Everyone is happy with this until one day the tree starts wilting.  The last animal to come from that tree is a little cat with a sun symbol on top of its head.  You play as that cat as you farm, fish, forage, and help out your neighbors as you try and restore the tree to its former glory in this simple farming sim.  Sunseed Island is available on Switch and PlayStation consoles, but reviewed on Switch here.

You’ll do pretty much what you do in any other farming simulations.  Grow crops, forage for things to sell as well as chop down trees and pick at rocks for building materials.  You can also fish and help out your neighbors.  As you play you’ll be able to build houses for them to live in and they’ll do things for you like refine your ores, make lumber out of wood, sell you seeds and animals, and more.  They’ll also have missions for you to take on and when you complete them, you’ll get rewards like passes to other islands where you can forage for more stuff.

I did have a few problems with this game.  I wish they gave you more instructions.  They have a whole section in the menu with text on how to play, but they still don’t explain things very well in some cases, like how to run (just press R).  Some of the goals can feel a bit unclear at first because they only show you a picture of what you need, not a description as well.  You also run out of energy pretty quickly, but luckily you can find food around that you can eat to replenish it.

But those problems didn’t bother me much.  I actually played this game almost all the way through but only stopped near the end when you have to catch one of everything in the game.  And I didn’t like the fishing game very much and getting everything else was getting a little tedious.  Here’s a tip, don’t sell the bugs and artifacts you get from rocks and trees until you can open up the community center and donate them.  What I liked most about the game is they kept it simple.  No time limits or seasons to have to worry about.  You just play at your own pace.  So if you find other farming sims intimidating because of this, you may want to check out Sunseed Island.

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here.  Reading skill is a must for the text, and parental supervision is recommended for the in-game purchases.  Sunseed Island is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews