Islanders: New Shores

Genre: Management Simulation / Puzzle

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

When Islanders released on Nintendo Switch in 2021, I was absolutely thrilled with the game’s relaxed and highly compelling blend of Management Simulation and Puzzle elements, challenging players to find the ideal placement for buildings that each had structures they wanted to be near and others they wanted to be kept far from. The game was a runner-up in several categories in the eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards, including Game of the Year, and it won multiple other awards. So I’m sure you can imagine that I would be pretty interested to see what a sequel would bring to the table.

Islanders: New Shores, released in 2025 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, doesn’t stray too far from the formula of its predecessor, with both gameplay and a presentation that will feel very familiar to anyone who played the previous game. However, there are certainly some changes to set this game apart.

The presentation once again uses fairly simple 3D visuals for its procedurally-generated island locales and stock structures, but this time around the game has a day-night cycle, complete with real-time shadow mapping. To be fair, on Nintendo Switch these shadows look pretty rough when you zoom in to see them up close, but it’s still a nice improvement over the first game. What’s more, there are additional touches here and there, such as new animations, houses lighting up at nighttime, houses sending up paper lanterns into the sky to celebrate when you’re ready to travel to a new island.

I should note that much like its predecessor, Islanders: New Shores has a somewhat low framerate and resolution that doesn’t really hinder the game, but isn’t ideal. This comes with some ugly aliasing too. However, overall I feel like this game looks great for what it is, especially considering its relatively smile 404MB file size.

This is joined by this game’s new synthesized soundtrack which offers a similar sort of relaxed chill vibe as the previous game. I don’t think it’s quite on the same level, but it’s not bad. There are some environmental sounds here too, though at one point I found the game had an irritating grinding noise that wouldn’t go away. I suspect this was caused by one of the buildings I placed, but it didn’t seem tied to any locale on the island and stayed with me no matter where I moved the camera, until I went to a new island. It’s nothing I feel greatly mars the game, but I did feel it should be mentioned here.

The changes in presentation are ultimately pretty minor, but there are some interesting gameplay changes here that don’t drastically alter the game but still add new twists to the formula.

The most noticeable new addition here are boons, earned when reaching specific point thresholds in each island. Players select these boons much like they select new building sets they earn, and they give players an opportunity to change up the game or add new elements – for example, a boon can shrink down a structure to make it easier to fit in a packed area, expand a structure’s radius when seeking objects to add to its point multiplier, remove negative point deductions for an object when placing it in an area that might be ideal if it wasn’t for some other stuff nearby that drags down the point total.

In addition, there are new structures to place, and new types of structures as well, with different placement rules. For example, lighthouses want an unobstructed view around them in addition to receiving negative points for nearby houses (likely complaining about the bright light flashing at them). Verdure adds natural elements like trees on grass and fish on the water that can provide extra points for lumbermills and fishers. And signal fires award points for other signal fires in their range of sight, but award more points the farther away those other signal fires are within that range. These and multiple other new structure types make this more than just a matter of fitting some pieces together while keeping others apart, and add an extra element of planning and strategy to the gameplay.

The islands themselves are different too. While still procedurally-generated, every time you hop from one island to the next you’ll get to choose between two types, with each island having its own biome and bonus structure that you start with, and some of these biome types have challenging irregular layouts that will require players to be extra shrewd when it comes to placement.

While the core endless gameplay mode remains the same, the game’s designers have responded to frustrations of players who were disappointed that the first game always forced you to abandon these islands. Now, any island you play on can be transferred to a sandbox mode for you to adapt and create on it to your heart’s content, without restricted buildings to use. In fact, you can go beyond using building and construct your own oddball structures by using individual building pieces if you wish, to create something that is truly and uniquely alone.

When it comes to complaints, I’ll note that the $10 price tag, while still excellent for what’s on offer here, isn’t as much of an absolute steal as the first game’s $5 price. Also, as a matter of preference, some players may find they prefer the simplicity of the original game, as opposed to New Shores’ more complex elements. However, other players may feel exactly the opposite – that these new elements bring a whole new dimension to the gameplay of the Islanders series.

However, whichever side of that fence you sit on, I do think that Islanders: New Shores is still a superb Management Simulation and Puzzle game, and one that changes enough to set it apart from its predecessor while remaining faithful to what made the previous game so good to begin with. While it’s hard to say which of these two games is better, I think that fans of the original should be pleased with this sequel, and newcomers to this series are well-advised to get both (though start with the first game – it’s simpler, and cheaper).

tl;dr – Islanders: New Shores is a Management Simulation and Puzzle game that is a follow-up to the original Islanders, and it takes the gameplay of the original game and adds multiple new elements for deeper gameplay, as well as some welcome new options. It’s hard to say whether this deeper gameplay is superior to the more simple and straightforward original game, but overall this is still a great game and an excellent sequel well worth playing for anyone looking for a relaxing game in this combination of genres.

Grade: A-

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Islanders: New Shores

Genre: Management Simulation / Puzzle

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Since I complained about the resolution and framerate above, I thought I’d check to see if anything is improved when playing this game on Nintendo Switch 2. The answer is… yes and no.

The framerate may be marginally improved, though I’m not completely sure. It’s definitely not a “night and day” difference. On the other hand, the resolution is just as low and ugly as it was before, no change there.

On the bright side, the load times are certainly improved here – the 20 seconds the game takes to get to the opening logos on Nintendo Switch has been halved to 10 on Nintendo Switch 2.

Is it an improvement? Yes. But don’t expect anything drastically different here – by comparison, the original Islanders received a massive improvement on Nintendo Switch 2, so this is actually something of a disappointment. And no, sadly there is no mouse mode used here either. Despite this, it’s still a great game on Nintendo Switch 2, just not one that’s very different from the game you’ll be playing on the original Nintendo Switch.

tl;dr – Islanders: New Shores is a Management Simulation and Puzzle game that is a follow-up to the original Islanders, and it takes the gameplay of the original game and adds multiple new elements for deeper gameplay, as well as some welcome new options. It’s hard to say whether this deeper gameplay is superior to the more simple and straightforward original game, but overall this is still a great game and an excellent sequel well worth playing for anyone looking for a relaxing game in this combination of genres.

Grade: A-

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