If you’ve spent anytime at all plopping stuff down in 2019’s wonderfully soothing minimalist city builder Islanders, there’s a fair chance you’ve been won over enough that a sequel is potentially quite exciting indeed. So brace yourself: publisher Coatsink has announced Islanders: New Shores, and it’s coming to PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC this “summer”.
The original Islanders, to recap, was a game about strategically cramming as many amenities as possible onto a tiny (but visually pleasing) randomly generated island – all while attempting to maximise your score by making the most of each amenity’s adjacency multipliers. That probably doesn’t sound hugely exciting, but its chill vibes and relaxed action made for an unexpectedly hypnotic experience – a space management game as compelling as it was soothing.
Which brings us to Islanders: New Shores, a gently expanded follow-up promising the chance to “explore, build, and strategise like never before”. This time around, Coatsink – which acquired the franchise from original developer Grizzly Games in 2022 – has teamed up with SteamWorld Build studio The Station, and it’s touting a variety of new features for its sequel.
For starters, New Shores introduces “boons” – one-time power-ups unlocked as players amass points, used to gain an advantage on tougher stages – plus two distinct modes of play in the form of High Score and Sandbox, each with their own saves. Elsewhere, there’s talk of 44 unique building types and seven island properties, as well as a photo mode with its own filters and a turntable camera. You can get a taste of New Shores’ action in the trailer above.
There’s no release date for Islanders: New Shores just yet, but it’s coming to Steam, PlaySation, Xbox, and Switch this “summer”. And if it’s anywhere near as good as its predecessor, it should be well worth keeping an eye on. Christian Donlan called the original Islanders a “thoughtful spin on strategy” and a “classic” in his Recommended review back in 2021.
