The core appeal of games like Harvest Moon has persisted in countless farming and easy-going life sims for decades. Since the release of Stardew Valley, an entire new generation of gamers has fallen in love with the slower, more casual experience of these cozy adventures. Of course, Animal Crossing and the likes borrow quite a bit from one another, making it challenging for any new release in this space to stand out. Developer rokaplay released Sugardew Island this past March, and having spent some time with this world, it’s time to talk about whether or not it’s worth your attention. Here’s our Sugardew Island review for Nintendo Switch.

The team at Rokaplay is very upfront about their influence on the development of Sugardew Island, calling back to beloved Harvest Moon games on the Nintendo DS. Touting the experience as a love letter and a truncated 15-hour love letter caught my eye as someone eager to find finite experiences in a sea of never-ending games in the genre. Countless game options give you a never-ending loop of things to do, but your time in Sugardew is formed around freedom and an achievable end goal. That’s appealing for those of us who love to try many games and prefer to complete them before moving on to the next adventure.

In the game, you are specifically tasked with running a cozy farm shop with the intentional mechanic of nothing needing to be complicated or too time-focused. You’ll take care of your farm, including many adorable animals, and sell your goods. Forest Folk, your main customers, are designed and appealing. As you fulfill orders, you can upgrade your farm and work to support the island’s Harmony Tree to see the relatively desolate island boom again with life. With a key goal of accessibility to the game being worry-free, no-rush gameplay, this is about as cozy as it gets in design.

It’s worth noting that there’s also a light but enjoyable story here. You’re not just selling to the Forest Folk because they’re the ones who need what you produce. You’re the only human on the island. The island has been uninhabitable to humans for a long time, following humans’ abuse of the island’s natural environment. As you build trust again with the Forest Folk, you’re also developing a deep understanding of why respecting the land is crucial to farming both in the game and in real life. It’s a great message, even if it does not explore ethics more deeply. While the story is limited in its ability to pack a punch, gameplay limits one’s ability to immerse oneself in this world.

As you would imagine, much of your gameplay is farming, including planting, harvesting, and organizing how you’ll continue expanding your output. Control and overall game mechanics for Sugardew Island are not its strong points. Some games in this genre feel smoother to play, and the graphics, while boosted by a great art style, suffer from subpar performance on the Switch. In my hands-on experience, it feels more like an optimization problem than a system issue, but I will give it a shot on the Nintendo Switch 2 in a few weeks to see how that theory holds.

Because the game emphasizes not forcing the player forward, your task list, including cleaning up your farm, is easily completed and underwhelming. It’s a short game, but you begin to feel the excitement waning early. In these games, limitlessness is often a reason to keep pushing forward, but the lack of things to do and the pressures to finish them harm the game’s pull. While the game’s overall charm is evident, as is the team’s vision, an expanded array of things to do would benefit Sugardew Island immensely. I can’t imagine that many will prefer this experience over other farming sims today.

While the game’s finite gameplay time and low price may pull folks in with bated expectations, these low entry bars will likely leave some disappointed. I didn’t particularly love my time in Sugardew Island, but for those farming sim fanatics who like to get their hands on every game in the genre, another option is a positive thing. Let us know in the comments if you plan to give the game a chance!

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Sugardew Island was provided by Silver Lining for this review.

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Sugardew Island

16.99

4

Score

4.0/10

Pros

• Appealing art style
• Great emphasis on slow, at-your-pace gameplay

Cons

• Simply not enough to do to keep you entertained
• Poor optimization on Switch
• Lackluster offering in terms of why players should choose this game over other farming sims