Farming and survival have never blended in such a scintillating and adventurous way!

Family Island is not unlike anything I’ve seen before, and it’s easy to comprehend why! I, for one, found some striking resemblances between Bruce (the “dad” character) and Fred Flintstone. Yet, despite Bruce’s overly clumsy and hilarious demeanor, he comes around as a much sweeter character than his rough-edged Hannah-Barbera counterpart. 

Speaking of clumsy, I chuckled the first time I saw Fred (I mean, Bruce) randomly trying to kick a coconut, only to trip over it. However, while I genuinely found it funny the first time (and even a second), it’s not an animation that people would find funny the 10th time. This is one scenario of me appreciating the developers' effort in designing memorable animations but, at the same time, thinking they probably overdid it.

That said, some of the dialogue choices are surprisingly amusing. At one point, Lizzie (the daughter) asks her mother why seawater is so salty, to which the mother can say either. “From the lonely Leviathan’s tears” or “From salty sea stones.” I was pleasantly surprised at this sudden out-of-nowhere interaction, considering this is precisely how children that age are prone to behave. 

Now, I’m not sure this matches the mood a person is supposed to have upon seeing their entire home destroyed by a volcano, which kinda reminds me I should disclose some of the game’s central premise (spoiler-free, as always!) Sorry for being so all over the place, but this game has just so much to talk about I don’t even know where to start!

So, according to the game’s trailers, this family of four got stranded on an island (which is part of an archipelago-styled region) after escaping from an erupting volcano. This island would become their new home, and thus, their journey begins. Along the way, the family is set to look for more tribe members who may have survived the eruption.

From then on, you must ensure the family is well-fed and has enough “energy” while gathering resources around the island. You can additionally build different structures that would allow you to expand your gameplay possibilities.

Throughout your playthrough, you’ll be capable of exploring a plethora of islands. Apart from the home island, you have access to more than 25 others, each requiring that you reach a specific level threshold.

It looks entertaining enough, but I do need to make some minor complaints. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with this game, but these things can’t go overlooked.

So, the game started with what I believed was a rather lengthy tutorial. That was until I realized that the entire game has these tutorial-style dialogues! I personally found this dynamic a bit irksome because the game essentially holds your hand all the way through.

Case in point: Once you finish a task, you are bombarded with more and more and more dialogue and “build this here” and “fix this there,” and there were few moments where I really felt I was doing things at my own leisure. I understand this game has an “adventure” facet to it, hence, its hallway-type storytelling approach. However, some people may find that conflicting with its world-building mechanics. I only found this a minor inconvenience, but some people may be even more turned off by this.

Moreover, the game is played on a “pay-or-wait” basis, which I’m not particularly a fan of, but I guess it’s better than pay-to-win. To skip these tedious wait times, you must buy rubies using real dough. You can purchase these rubies mostly in packs, with prices ranging from $4 to a whopping $80! Seems inflation was a real thing during the stone age even!

In its defense, this game doesn’t prompt you to rush things up. It’s an excellent little casual game that encourages you to play occasionally, so you probably won’t have to reach into your pocket all that often. Again, I’m not necessarily happy with this, but quite frankly, I’ve seen way worse monetization in my lifetime!

Lastly, the soundtrack, while not exactly the most “varied,” is not annoying in the slightest. I did hope to find more musical variety across the different islands, as that would have endowed them with a bit more “identity” and flavor, but at least the existing music is easy to listen to and doesn’t grate my ears. 

Family Island is an endearing game that promises to grant you hours of genuine fun. However, this is not your run-of-the-mill farm management game. This is, at its core, an adventure game with management features thrown in. As long as you play it with that mindset, you won’t be disappointed!

Do you want to say something about this game? Don’t hesitate to do so in the comments below. Just don’t “rock the boat,” please!