Starsand Island 1.0 is Cute, Cozy, and Unfortunately Still Riddled with Bugs (Review)
For life sim and farming sim fans, Starsand Island is one of the most anticipated games of 2026. Initially, it was supposed to release on all platforms in February. However, Seed Sparkle Lab opted to go the Early Access route to get a bit more feedback and time to work on the game. Now, Starsand Island is headed to consoles at last with its August 18th version 1.0 release. I got the chance to check it out early on PS5 to see what’s new and how the game runs on console. When I played the Early Access build, I noted that the game was still pretty rough around the edges. Unfortunately, that’s still the case in 1.0, at least on PS5.
Starsand Island packs in just about everything you could want in a life sim. There’s crafting, building, farming, animal care, cooking, and of course, dating a wide array of NPCs. It has adorably anime-inspired graphics that add another layer of coziness to the whole experience. In so many ways, it’s exactly the kind of life sim that cozy gaming fans want to sink into. But unfortunately, as of the build I played, the game is still riddled with technical issues that hold it back from its full potential. With a little TLC, I still think Starsand Island can be the game we want it to be, but I’m not sure it’s there yet.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Stunning graphics and soundtrack make for a cozy world | Frame rate issues & visual glitches dampen the experience |
| Solid core gameplay loop, with a variety of main questlines and requests to fill | A few bugs with questlines impede progress |
| Good variety of romanceable NPCs with distinct personalities |
If You Love The Farming Sim Grind, Starsand Island Is Here to Deliver
If there’s one thing I love about Starsand Island, it’s the sheer amount of things to do. There are five unique professions, each with their own questlines and (romanceable) mentors. You can grab all of these quests at once, along with Community Board requests and main story quests. Plus, your in-game phone offers quite a few challenges to tick off, earning a variety of rewards when you do. Basically, there’s always something to work towards in this game, which really helps with that aimless feeling that some life sims struggle with. I love a good grind, and I keep wanting to come back to Starsand Island to work my way through all of the quests and challenges.
Like any good life sim, Starsand Island has all of the essential activities. You can farm crops, take care of animals, go fishing, and cook. There’s also insect catching and light combat as you explore the mysterious cave near your home. Thanks to the mentor/profession system, there’s a clear tutorial for each core activity, which really helps you settle into the rhythm. For the most part, these mechanics are familiar and what you would expect from a farming sim. That makes it easy to settle into your cozy island life and get to that rewarding grind. Each profession also has its own skill tree, so you truly feel like you’re getting better at farming, fishing, and all your island life tasks over time.
Because you’re encouraged to meet all of the mentors right away, you’ll get a good sense of the island’s eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. These characters offer a good array of options for your future farm spouse, and they do have fairly distinct personalities. I do wish there was a bit more story to their profession quest lines, which do feel a bit random at the moment. The same goes for the overall island questline, though that does offer a bit more of a story arc to follow. Even without as strong of a story hook as I wanted, however, Starsand Island is a charming game that pulls me back in with all those to-do list items to tick off. Unfortunately, some of those tasks may never be complete thanks to some of the bugs I encountered.
From Indoor Rain to Invisible NPCs, Starsand Island Has More Bugs Than The Ones You Catch
While there’s plenty to like about Starsand Island, I admit I expected a smoother gameplay experience on PS5 as we head into 1.0. During Early Access, the game struggled with an unpolished feeling. Unfortunately, the review build I played on PS5 has many of the same issues. The full release adds more content, including multiplayer gameplay, new NPCs, and dating mechanics. But from my experience, it doesn’t iron out nearly as many bugs as I would’ve liked for a game headed to full release.
On PS5, the game struggles with stuttering, creating visual waves when you look around too quickly. Other visual issues persist, including bizarre camera angles that render NPCs invisible during certain conversations and rainy days bringing those raindrops right inside your house. And these visual snags aren’t the only issue. Sometimes, the game gets stuck in a command loop, and the same menu or conversation pops up a few times before you can actually get out of it. That’s a little frustrating, but easy enough to get past.
In fact, most of the glitches are just visual issues or minor inconveniences. But I did run into at least one glitch that has completely blocked my progress for one of the core professions. That means that I can’t level up my Exploring skill or gain access to the next area in the caves, which is pretty frustrating. Because there’s so much to do in the game, I was able to keep progressing in other areas, but that broken quest haunts my Journey log. I’m hopeful that Seed Sparkle Lab will issue patches that resolve these issues over time. As it stands, however, Starsand Island does feel like a game that’s still in Early Access, even as it heads for a 1.0 launch.
Even with the performance issues and glitches I encountered, Starsand Island does still feel like a good life sim at its core. I kept finding myself wanting to come back to tend to my adorable animals and progress the non-glitched questlines. There’s a lot of content here, and I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what the game has to offer. If Seed Sparkle Lab can squash those bugs, this is going to be a great game for Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley fans alike.
Starsand Island 1.0 releases for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on August 18th. It costs $39.99 USD.
ComicBook received a PS5 copy of Starsand Island for the purpose of this review.