Available on: Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch | Developer: The Station | Publisher: Coatsink, Thunderful Publishing | Release Date: July 10, 2025
What if city building felt more like solving a puzzle than managing a spreadsheet? What if growth wasn’t about survival or expansion, but creativity and rhythm? ISLANDERS: New Shores answers those questions by stripping the genre down to its purest form: place buildings, score points, and make something beautiful before you run out of space.
This isn’t a traditional strategy game. There’s no population count, no money, no enemies, no disasters. Instead, it’s a quiet, mindful loop of choosing building packs, finding the highest-scoring placement, and filling your island like a living jigsaw puzzle. It’s a cozy challenge with unexpected depth.
Build to Build More
Every new island begins small. You choose a starter pack — maybe seaweed farming, maybe brewing — and begin placing buildings. Each structure scores differently depending on its surroundings. A seaweed field should be located near water and seaweed farms, but away from fish. A brickyard loves sand pits and masons but hates its own kind. The result is a layering of decision-making: a spatial strategy game masquerading as a builder.
Fill your point meter and you’ll be rewarded with more buildings. Fill it again and unlock new packs. Run out of buildings without hitting the next threshold, and your journey ends — unless you choose to move to a new island at just the right time.
That’s the central tension of New Shores. Stay and try to optimize every last building for maximum score, or leave and carry your progress forward. It gives every session a light roguelike structure. Some islands are wide and forgiving. Others are cruel little snow-globed cliffs where one misplaced mansion spells the end.
A Minimalist Playground, Reimagined
ISLANDERS: New Shores is an evolution of the 2019 original, and it shows. The game features over 44 building types across six biomes, each with its own unique mechanics and atmosphere. There’s a desert with high-scoring temples if you plan ahead. A tropical archipelago for fishers and docks. A tundra filled with cozy saunas, blooming trees, and hushed snow.
Each biome introduces slight scoring twists — “boons” that offer single-use power-ups (like doubling the next building’s score or shrinking it to fit tighter spaces), or building types that demand completely different thinking. The lighthouse wants open views. The market thrives near fishermen. A statue acts like a magnet for points. Some buildings, like the temple or aviary, persist across runs and grow stronger the more you build them.
You’re not building cities for efficiency. You’re building tiny worlds for aesthetics and score, fitting them together like a beautiful board game. When things click, it’s incredibly satisfying — especially when you zoom out and realize you’ve built something that looks organic, lived-in, and purposeful.
Modes and Mindsets
New Shores comes with two modes: High Score and Sandbox. High Score mode is where the meat of the game lies — a run-based, leaderboard-driven loop that gets more intense with every island. Sandbox, on the other hand, strips out the score and lets you build however and wherever you want. Want to spend an hour perfecting a utopian seaweed village with ten lighthouses? Go for it.
Twitch integration is another addition, letting streamers bring their audiences into the building process. It’s a subtle but clever way to make this meditative game a bit more social.
And for those who like to document their progress, the new Photo Mode is a gift. A rotatable camera, filters, and lighting options let you frame your builds like miniature dioramas. It’s the kind of addition that feels small until you’ve lost 30 minutes tweaking the perfect screenshot.
The Vibe is the Game
What makes ISLANDERS: New Shores work isn’t just the gameplay — it’s the tone. The soundtrack is a soothing 75-minute original score that drifts in and out gently. The visual design is colorful, clean, and evocative without being distracting. Buildings click satisfyingly into place. Lights turn on at night. Shadows stretch as the day rolls by. And when you zoom out and look at your island lit up under a pink sky, it’s hard not to smile.
This is a game where you can take pride in small wins. Getting that mansion to squeeze in for a few extra points. Managing to keep your city center away from industry. Unlocking a new island after thinking your run was doomed. It rewards clever placement, but doesn’t punish failure. When a run ends, you start again — more intelligent, more confident, maybe with a new strategy in mind.
Not for Everyone, But Exactly Right for Some
To be clear, ISLANDERS: New Shores is not for those seeking narrative or challenge in the traditional sense. There’s no campaign, no characters, no plot. The story is what you make up in your head. (“This is the worker’s district, this is the shaman’s hill, and over here is where they brew the good stuff.”) If you need conflict or progression systems, you might find them lacking.
And while building is smooth primarily, placing structures for maximum points can sometimes get fiddly, especially on a controller. The lack of an undo button in High Score mode can also be frustrating if a misclick ruins your perfect setup.
But those are minor gripes in a game that knows exactly what it wants to be — and nails it.
ISLANDERS: New Shores: ISLANDERS: New Shores is a meditative puzzle disguised as a builder. It’s a game about placement, rhythm, and calm thinking. It’s relaxing, rewarding, and quietly brilliant. Whether you’re chasing a leaderboard run or crafting a sleepy island village in Sandbox mode, it offers just enough strategy to keep you engaged and just enough beauty to make you care. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t overwhelm. It invites you to stay a while — and maybe build something a little better each time. – Obsidian
