Whenever I’m set to pen an article going over some of the best budget games available on any sale, a couple of names constantly pop up: FTL: Faster Than Light, Into The Breach, and ISLANDERS. There are a lot of reasons as to why that is. Well, the most obvious is the fact that these games go on sale very often, for very affordable prices. But the main reason is that these are the games I consider to be my forever titles. 

• Genre: Casual Strategy / City-Builder/ Relaxing Strategy
• Developer: The Station
• Publisher: Coatsink, Thunderful Publishing.
• Price: $24.99 | 25,49€ | £22.49
• Release Date: 10 July, 2025
• Reviewer: Nuno Marques (PC)
• Target Audience: City-builder fans; Cozy-strategy games enjoyers; Anyone looking for a relaxing strategy game
• Final Score: 10/10

Forever titles in the sense that, wherever I go during my very often work-related travels – assuming that I’m able to take my gaming laptop along (no, unfortunately I still haven’t been able to buy a Steam Deck), there’s a near 100% chance that I’ll do a last-minute check to see if I’m missing any of these titles. Aside from being cheap, they’re also soft to run on even the slowest of machines, can be learned in less than the time it takes to brew a coffee, and they all have options to kick-start playing by mostly just starting up a new run. Accessibility as it should be.

In 2019, when I had to remain home due to a medical leave, one game I found myself gravitating towards was ISLANDERS. Recently released at the time, this minimalist town-builder lured me in with the premise of being, you know, a proper city-builder. While it certainly isn’t one, what it is is something even greater, and it rather quickly established itself as one of my favorite games. When ISLANDERS: New Shores was released, I was excited for it, but also wondering how it could possibly improve on what was already a very tight-knit formula.

The answer is simple: not a whole lot was touched, and the base formula remains exactly the same. The few smaller things that have been added do make ISLANDERS: New Shores the superior experience compared to the original. Due to their regular low pricing, I would still buy both games. But, how does ISLANDERS play?

There’s very little in terms of mechanics. You start a run, and you’re given a very small archipelago of islands and a couple of buildings to place in there. Depending on where you place your buildings, you’ll get more or less points, depending on what’s affecting their placement. More often than not, this would be other buildings. Some buildings synergize very well with each other, giving you extra points, while others subtract. For example: placing houses near a city center and each other will award you extra points for each house on its radius, and the aforementioned city center. It’s in discovering how buildings work in relation to each other that makes ISLANDERS such a compelling experience.

After you place a couple of buildings, and assuming you’re able to reach the required number of points, the game will give you a choice between two packs of buildings; pick one, place the building. Repeat until you reach the necessary number of points to move forward to a new island. That’s it. No island will last forever, and your run will come to an eventual end. Knowing that transforms ISLANDERS into a completely relaxing experience, where I don’t need to worry about constantly optimizing everything, and can just enjoy my time with the game.

ISLANDERS: New Shores didn’t touch the formula one bit. It didn’t have to. It added new buildings, each with their own interactions with other buildings for players to learn and make the most out of. Saunas, Lighthouses, cliffhouses, and a whole host of new playables add a lot more depth to the game and make city-building even more of a joy. Boons saw their way into the game as well, and these show up once you achieve a certain number of points in a given island. These are randomly generated, and range from removing negative effects from placing buildings near each other that would otherwise cause them to lose points, to random drops, the ability to demolish a building, and giving a certain building in your city a point boost if any other buildings are placed near them. These are a cool addition, and learning how to combo them properly can lead to some very interesting results and a satisfying overflow of points.

These new additions add a lot of variety to the formula and break the mold of constantly trying to do the same things over and over again, like what happened with the original. Some buildings might even be island-exclusive, and they’re given to you at the beginning for said island for you to build them towards a combo. In the end, the basic gameplay loop of establishing a housing zone and industry will still happen, due to the nature of how these buildings interact with one another, but there’s a lot more to consider and plan around, and that’s always a good thing. This is exactly how a sequel should be made.

One thing I have to say is that the islands in New Shores feel a tad bit smaller than they used to in the first game. This didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the game, but it can make some of the most unforgiving maps into something that one instantly recognizes there’s no way you’ll be able to beat. The lava islands, especially, are a rather unforgiving bunch. Oh, maybe I should mention that each island is randomly generated every time.

As for other criticism, I don’t think there’s much else I can add, aside from the fact that I wish that the game could feature a wider roster of buildings. For me, enjoyment of ISLANDERS: New Shores comes from discovering how to make the most of my roster of buildings, and having more (up to a point) is not a bad thing. Some small and intermediate shops to accompany the city’s growth, maybe some more late-game crop options, or better yet, the ability to connect separate islands (rope bridge?) or different areas of a given island for extra points. The addition of Cliffhouses also allows for some amazing comboing, but I would love to see more buildings that work great on cliffs, given that they’re such an integral part of the game.

Have in mind that these are just minor complaints, and in no way, shape, or form do they ruin my enjoyment of the game, and just arise after contemplating its possible faults for a while. 

Graphically, this game is perfect. The minimalist and dreamy art style mixes elements of eastern and western architecture while having this weird sort of ancient, but also futuristic look to everything. Buildings are sleek, colorful, and there’s always a sense of being in a sleepy coastal town, but at a time and place you cannot exactly determine. At night, the city comes to light, making for some spectacular screenshots.

The user interface is, again, minimalist, but with the game being so simple, it would have required substantial effort to ruin something like this. All the information you need is on screen, and if you want to know more about the scoring system of each building, all you have to do is hover over them on the selection bar.

The sound is serene and eerie, and oftentimes melancholic. It’s relaxing, comforting, and makes for a very meditative experience. 

FINAL SCORE: 10/10

As I sit in this lovely balcony overlooking a sunny beach writing this down, I can sense that, tonight, I’ll be playing ISLANDERS: New Shores once more. I won’t be gunning for a new high score or to create the most beautiful island possible. Instead, I’ll start a run, place some buildings, learn and experiment with some new combos, and see how far I’ll go before starting it all over again. 

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