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I Spent a Season on Coral Island, and You Should Too

by on October 11, 2022
Coral Island artwork of a male and female farmer on the beach with residents in the background fishing, carrying crops, and walking with animals.

Coral Island is a farm sim inspired by classics like Harvest Moon (sorry, Story of Seasons), Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and more, set on a beautiful tropical island. Developer Stairway Games reached their initial funding goal on Kickstarter within 36 hours. By the end of the campaign, over 36,000 people pledged more than a combined $1,600,000, far more than even the loftiest $1,250,000 stretch goal. To say Coral Island has had support from day one is an understatement!

I played a fair amount of Harvest Moon on the SNES and N64 as a lad but didn’t get back into farm sims until Stardew Valley ensnared me in 2017. Since Stardew brought me back into the genre, I’ve logged around 350 hours across three platforms and multiple farms. Now, I frequently seek out new farm sims and am on board with what Coral Island aims to deliver. I’ve put close to 20 hours into the game ahead of its Early Access launch on Steam, and while I see why the current build of the game is considered Early Access, what I’ve played is incredibly promising.

After a classic (or expected, depending on your point of view) opening where my stylish, wavy-haired avatar arrived on Coral Island and got a quick tour of the farm and a bundle of essential tools, it was time to explore. Coral Island is already more beautiful than you may expect, considering the crowdfunding campaign was only 18 months ago. The environments are full of detail and variety. Some sections of the island feature trees and grass where collectible bugs hang out. West of the farm is a lush jungle setting with a tree “archway” and interesting stacked stones in the stream that I couldn’t cross yet but wanted to (I eventually did!). The water is particularly gorgeous, from the rain effects to serene layered stone waterfalls and the ancient lake temple surrounded by a walkway of large flat stones just under the water’s surface. And that’s just the nature aspect.

  • Coral Island screenshot of the player character fishing in a lake as a local artist paints on a canvas on an easel.
  • Coral Island screenshot of Suki asking the farmer How's the farm so far? on a wooden walkway near the lake and cherry blossom trees.

There’s something to see everywhere you look on the island. Betty, one of the older residents, often checks on various bird feeders that dot the outskirts of town. I sometimes bump into Paul and Anne, a married couple who love nature and film shows around the island — a show you can watch in the farmhouse! There is a pair of merfolk-themed fountains near the General Store, a giant hot spring with a fascinating yet unreachable character nearby; you get the idea. All this detail comes from areas that feel painstakingly handmade. While the farm is designed to work on a grid-based layout, the rest of the island does not follow this rigid feel. I enjoyed discovering a curved wooden walkway as a shortcut between houses, sinuous pathways connecting the farm to other parts of town over dusty roads, natural and manufactured bridges, and more. Each route feels organic and intentional, and it makes exploring a delight.

This is good, because I cannot stop exploring this island! As you’d expect from a game inspired by the likes of Stardew Valley, I quickly found roads I couldn’t access until an event occurred or until I upgraded specific tools. There are enough surprise alcoves and areas just out of reach that I’d be stunned if the developers were not channeling some Zelda world design. I made it into some of these areas and sometimes received stamina-restoring food items. I’m curious if these are placeholders for the time being or if the rewards are minimal because it’s still early game. There is a lot more I want to see, so I still find the exploration worthwhile. Even if you may turn a corner or check a random trash can and get literal trash. But wow, I love Coral Island’s trash.

No, really.

Stairway Games said the game would have an environmental “save the ocean” message, and it’s weaved into the narrative and gameplay. I won’t soapbox here, but it’s an important message in general, especially in this game world where people live on a small island. An oil spill in the past polluted the shores, and while I don’t know the extent of cleaning up planned for the full game, there’s a lot in place already. When first arriving on the farm, not only did I have typical debris to clean up—logs, stones, weeds—but also mounds of literal trash. The town has a recycling center that I don’t think functions yet, but I cleaned that trash up, too. One of my favorite things about all this trash? Many of the first crafting recipes you unlock USE it. There is fencing and flooring, and at the moment, my scarecrows and storage chests are all made from upcycled garbage. It’s a great way to turn cleanup into a usable resource, and I find things like the scarecrow adorable, to boot! So, okay, the game is attractive, and trash is useful.

  • Coral Island screenshot of a crafting menu with a makeshift scarecrow made of an old tire, wood, and a plastic bottle.
  • Coral Island screenshot of a farmer running past their crops with a makeshift scarecrow set up.

Coral Island doesn’t hide its inspiration, which is a good thing overall: If you’re familiar with the genre, you have an idea of what to expect. That said, some early game aspects are a little “too inspired” by Stardew Valley. For instance, I knew there was a mine. However, I didn’t know that I’d be introduced to it in the first week, given a sword, and proceed to dive into an earthy mine where you must break rocks to find a hole leading to deeper levels, with an elevator every five floors for quick access. After venturing in, the town blacksmith, Pablo, gave me a furnace blueprint that uses suspiciously familiar materials and a known ratio to smelt bars (okay, it’s bronze instead of copper). I wish it varied at least a little. However, there are four elemental mines, so I hope the non-earth ones have a greater variety.

On the flip side, much to Coral Island‘s credit, there is also a completely different “layered” area to explore: underwater. The diving component is not fully fleshed out (there’s no underwater map yet, for example), but it’s enough to show some variety in a resource-gathering area. Instead of hunting for a hole to progress, you have to clean up trash and find beacons that emit a pulse of… cleaning magic, I suppose? This pulse clears the immediate area of oil, brings the coral back to health, and sometimes opens more places to explore. I know somewhere is a merfolk village, and while I am not sure if it’s available yet, I am excited to see it! Maybe if I can get this sea turtle a bronze-quality tomato, I can see more…

  • Coral Island screenshot of player character in a diving suit surrounded by coral and trash with a floating robot friend saying Take Care.
  • Coral Island screenshot of an underwater beacon emitting a floral-shaped pulse of light to heal the reef.

I have honestly only touched on the gameplay so far. There is also fishing, Animal Crossing-like bug collecting, 70+ seasonal crops to plant, a massive list of items you can donate to the town’s museum, animals to raise, a house to decorate, a clothing shop, permanent quality upgrades to crops, and more. Crafted “machines” like furnaces and recycling machines are not unique to Coral Island, but I appreciate the ability to load them with multiple sets of materials, making each machine somewhat automated when producing multiple items.

One important gameplay aspect to highlight is the game-changing skill tree. While gaining experience in farming, fishing, etc., is not a new concept, Coral Island‘s early-game skills are powerful. Abilities like giving you a chance to mine double ore, double kelp, or soil that has an increased chance to remain watered seem like late-game skills. But they inspire joy each time you get a “double harvest” notice, since you know you can earn some bonus money or don’t have to gather resources for as long as you expected. I look forward to seeing what higher-tier bonuses await.

  • Coral Island screenshot of the in-game People menu showing character cards for 12 of the island residents and friendship levels.
  • Coral Island screenshot of Macy asking other characters to huddle up so she can take a photo in the museum's back room.

Ultimately, farm sims earn their keep by offering compelling gameplay with enough variety to keep you coming back. But you still need a cast that makes you want to visit this world, and I feel that Coral Island‘s most significant contribution to the genre will be its diverse cast of 70+ island residents. For example, Macy is an outgoing photographer, Frank runs the local tavern, called Fishensips, Zarah lives in a boat and seeks treasure, Joko and Dinda are the local carpenters, and so much more. It’s especially great to see a wide range of cultural, gender, and physical representation. I get the sense that Stairway Games put significant effort into making the cast incredibly diverse. That they are all designed and rendered in a crisp, Disney-esque animated style is just the icing on the cake.

Earlier, I mentioned that it’s clear why Coral Island is in Early Access. Thankfully, this is not a comment on quality; the game simply isn’t done. Things like the sparse “bottom” floor of the mine and its stark white door that made me think I found the entrance to Kingdom Hearts, the lack of an underwater map, and shops that aren’t open yet (the clinic doesn’t function until 1.0, so nobody on the island better get sick!) are all signs of this. The developers have stated that right now, the game is playable for a full in-game year, spring through winter. While you can continue playing after that, the story components after year one are not yet in place. Stairway has an Early Access roadmap visible within the game and on their website with all the details, showing that there is still plenty in the works! I have played through all of spring and part of summer, so while I can’t speak for the amount of fresh content that remains in the current build of the game, it does seem like you get a fair amount of game at present, and that will only grow with time. With mostly monthly dev updates on Steam and an active Discord server, you don’t have to wonder if development is progressing.

  • Coral Island screenshot of peaceful multi-level waterfall plateaus.
  • Coral Island screenshot of a beach cleanup festival as residents clean up and collect trash and recyclables.

As you can see, I am excited about Coral Island‘s future. I would love for Stairway to modify some of the things taken directly from the games it’s paying homage to since sometimes that takes me out of the moment. While this is not overly prevalent, I still want to see it because everywhere the developers walk their own path serves to strengthen Coral Island‘s own identity. And so far, that identity is a gorgeous tropical island with a ton of new friends (human, animal, merfolk, and more) to meet, an environment to clean up, and a farm to fill with peacocks and ducks. In the words of the illustrious Liz Lemon, I want to go to there.

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Mike Salbato

Mike Salbato

Mike has been with RPGFan nearly since its inception, and in that time has worn a surprising number of hats for someone who doesn't own a hatstand. Today he attempts to balance his Creative Director role with his Editor-in-Chief status. Despite the amount of coffee in his veins, he bleeds emerald green.

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