A relaxed puzzle-builder returns with more islands, more charm, and a few new bricks in the bag.
Islanders made a big splash in 2019 with its clean, simple take on building cities. It got rid of the need to micromanage resources and placed more emphasis on placement and looks. People who get stuck on complicated strategy games will enjoy this game a lot; it’s a nice mix of puzzles and creativity. It was developed by The Station and first came out on PC.
It quickly became known as the perfect “sit back and vibe” game. The year is 2025, and Islanders: New Shores is now available on all current-gen consoles, thanks to Coatsink and Thunderful Publishing. This version isn’t a complete remake; instead, it’s a long, well-polished love letter to the first game. It feels more like a definitive edition than a direct sequel, as it features a sandbox mode, some tweaks, and additional content.
ISLANDERS: New Shores doesn’t have a story, and that’s not a bug; it was purposely left that way. There are no over-the-top plots with kings or tyrants, no citizens to please, and no disasters to stop. You are the force that shapes peaceful archipelagos, one building at a time, that can’t be seen.
That might sound like a missed chance, especially if you like story-driven games, but it also means there’s no stress and no end-of-the-world plot. It’s just you, your buildings, and the sea breeze. But even a small story or reason would have given your cityscapes more emotional weight. It could have worked with something like “you’re rebuilding lost civilizations”.
The main loop of ISLANDERS: New Shores is very easy to understand. A random island is given to you at the start, along with a few buildings to put there. Your goal? You can earn points based on how well you place them. It’s different for each building; some like to be near trees, while others like to be near fields or city centers. If you score enough points, you’ll get more buildings and eventually be able to move on to the next island.
In the standard mode of ISLANDERS: New Shores, this loop gradually worsens. Things get tighter as the island fills up, and your choice becomes more important. The score system is not used at all in sandbox mode, though. You can change the size and shape of your island and build as much as you want without any penalties or limits on how far you can go. It’s really cool.
There is no fighting in ISLANDERS: New Shores, unless you count the mental battle of picking out the right tile for a temple surrounded by huts for shamans. The puzzle is in how the pieces are put together. Every structure has an invisible scoring zone that you have to maximize to get the best score.
When a windmill is near fields, it might get points, but when it’s near factories, it might lose points. Putting a circus next to homes in the city? Win-win. Putting it next to a church? Not really. The puzzles in ISLANDERS: New Shores are beautifully made; they are easy to solve but not mindless.
To do well, you don’t have to be a puzzle master, but you can always get better at placing things and get higher scores. The difficulty level rises naturally as your island gets crowded and space runs out. But this is where some cracks can be seen. It can be annoying to be too precise on a controller. It’s not always easy to rotate and move buildings, and the game will fight you when you try to snap structures into small spaces.
Additionally, the scoring system makes ISLANDERS: New Shores more engaging, but its impact doesn’t change significantly over time. You’ll quickly figure out which buildings get along with which neighbors. After that, it’s mostly just repeating steps with small changes for the terrain.
Adding a dynamic challenge system or changing goals would have made it easier to play repeatedly. ISLANDERS: New Shores doesn’t use the usual XP system. Progress is based on scores. You can build more buildings in a run as you earn more points. When the left-side bar is full, you move on to a new island.
Each time you jump from one island to another, the stakes are a little lower because you lose your old layout and start over, but you get a few “perks” that make the structures or bonus points you get better. This light progression loop is ideal for short sessions because it makes you feel like you’re moving forward without requiring overly grindy controls.
The art style in ISLANDERS: New Shores is warm and toy-like. The islands are brightly colored, the buildings are cutely simple, and the whole thing looks like a life-sized diorama. From sandy beaches in the tropics to rocky cliffs, every place feels calm. There are no dark shadows or bright effects.
Just soft, clean peace. The interface is simple and doesn’t get in the way, and the PS5 version runs flawlessly. It might not have the best graphics, but it doesn’t need to—the point of the game is to calm your eyes, not strain them.
Like the visuals in ISLANDERS: New Shores, the sound experience is calm and not distracting. In the background, music that sounds like ocean waves comes in, and each building placement makes a satisfying soft click or thud. It’s meant to calm you down and help you meditate.
It’s fine that there’s no voice acting or crazy music swells; those things wouldn’t fit in this game. Still, it wouldn’t hurt if the music had a few more different styles. You might get tired of the music loop after about an hour. A new version with music that changes based on the season or biome would be a nice addition.
ISLANDERS: New Shores is a simple puzzle builder for those who need a break from the world’s chaos. It doesn’t attempt to change the genre, and it doesn’t succeed either. Instead, it offers a polished version of what made the first game so popular that can be played on consoles.
One of the best features is the sandbox mode, which allows players to build for no reason. The scoring mode is still useful, especially for people who like to plan and improve their layouts. However, because it lacks even a simple story or long-term goal, it can only be interesting for a short time.
And the controller support is pretty good, but it sometimes breaks when you need to be very precise. Still, for the low price and what it has to offer, it’s a cozy little gem that you should check out, especially on a quiet weekend when all you want to do is put windmills next to grain fields and look at your small but growing empire.
