Islanders: New Shores review

Do you like the idea of growing your own city without worrying about any of the bureaucracy that goes with it? Let’s face it; nobody really enjoys the tedium of laying down powerlines and water drainage systems in the likes of Cities: Skylines, or dealing with the civil unrest of the Tropico series. Enter Islanders: New Shores; a game where nothing else matters other than placing buildings — and where you place them.

It’s a bit of a fallacy to call Islanders: New Shores a city builder at all, actually. You don’t need to worry about infrastructure, you don’t need certain buildings to make your township function, and, ironically, there are no actual islanders for you to worry about. Really, it’s a zen puzzle game about placing buildings, trying to gain the best score you possibly can. If that sounds at all familiar, it’s because this is a sequel to 2019’s Islanders — and if you’ve played that, you’ll be able to hit the ground running here.

Not all that much has changed between Islanders and New Shores which, if you dug the format as much as I did, will be music to your ears. There are new building types and new landscapes to build your towns on, but really, this is simply an extension of what came before. That doesn’t mean you need to have played Islanders to enjoy this, however: it’s a completely standalone experience and, thanks to easy-to-learn controls and some very useful tooltips, you’ll have the hang of gameplay within a matter of minutes.

Islanders: New Shores works by giving you a ‘pack’ of buildings to place. Some buildings need to be placed on a certain type of terrain: seaweed farms need placing by the shore, for example, while fields must be placed on grass. Besides that, each structure will earn a different score depending on what it’s close to. A brewery will lose points if it’s placed near another brewery, for example, but will gain points if it’s near a warehouse or hop field. The same is true for every type of building: every single one will gain or lose points depending what it’s placed near. It’s up to you to optimise the placement of every building to score the most points possible.

You’ll need to score a certain amount of points to unlock the next pack of buildings and, after placing enough packs, you’ll be able to move to the next level. You’ll keep going, placing buildings on your given islands, until you simply can’t — a point will come where you simply haven’t earned enough points to unlock another pack. That means game over: your score will be calculated, and you can see how you’ve fared on global leaderboards.

You don’t have to compete for a high score in Islanders: New Shores if you don’t want. Open up the game’s sandbox mode, and you can completely focus on making an aesthetically pleasing island. All buildings are available to you instantly, you can generate a landscape that suits you, and you can place anything absolutely anywhere. Want a market in the middle of the sea? Why the heck not?

Honestly, sandbox isn’t my cup of tea, but I understand the appeal of taking the time to create an eye-catching and pretty townscape. For me, the draw of Islanders: New Shores, as it was with its predecessor, is simply getting as far as you can; trying to get the highest score possible.

This is a wonderfully relaxing game, fun to play in short bursts or to lose yourself in for hours at a time. Whether you want to challenge yourself or simply unwind and create a masterpiece, Islanders: New Shores caters to you. I’ve been playing on Nintendo Switch 2, and it’s the perfect handheld game: it isn’t demanding and it’s ideal for playing on the go or while lounging on the sofa. Just as I did with the first Islanders, I’m going to be returning to this for months to come.

This review of Islanders: New Shores is based on the Nintendo Switch version of the game, with a code provided by the publisher. It’s available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.