Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure | PC Review
Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure, developed and published by Snowcastle Games, is an indie adventure and simulation game. It is currently in early access and is available on Windows PC. The developers have provided fans with a roadmap of improvements that have been released throughout the course of this year. There is also a console release planned, but no date has been given.
Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure provides a new and unique take on the popular farming and simulation genre and adds an extra layer of adventure along the way. The game is set on a deserted island and your task is to explore, rebuild the landscape, befriend wildlife, and use their skills and abilities to progress into new areas of the island. As you progress through the game, you’ll find ancient ruins from a long-gone civilization and pirates on the hunt for treasure. You’ll traverse different biomes including treacherous and icy mountains, arid deserts, and humid swamps.
If you're a fan of the farming and grinding required in games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, then Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure is certainly a worthy addition to your collection. You’ll spend much of your time exploring to gather resources to help you unlock new features on the island. As you progress through the game, you’ll be able to leave your own touch on the island and really make it your own.
I really found Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure to be a nice game to relax with that didn’t demand too much of me, and it provided some nice thoughtless entertainment for me. There is a very small amount of combat, but never enough for it to become a significant portion of the game, so there’s no real fighting skills required. The combat is very simple but slightly clunky, but since combat played such a small role in the game, it really wasn’t a big issue for me. I think aside from clunky combat, my only other critique of the game is that I found the UI to feel a little bit confusing at times. I spent far too long trying to figure out how to drop something, and the only answer I could find was to dump items into a random chest I found nearby. This was very early in the game though and obviously as you progress and upgrade these things become less of an issue, but it did become a point of frustration for me for a short while.
Another thing I really loved about Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure is the in-game bug report and feedback section. If you encounter a bug, you can literally report it in that second without any hassle or messing around. This really speaks volumes about the developer and their desire to listen to the people who are playing the early access and upon release, ideally there’ll be a wonderful game. This is definitely something I’d love to see implemented in other games, even beyond the early access phase. It shows that the developer actively wants to work on their game. It also bridges the gap between developers and gamers in a way that doesn’t inconvenience the gamer, because let's be serious, who wants to trawl the internet for a correct email address to maybe get a reply and a fix investigated? Instead, the developers here provided an accessible and easy way to do this.
I really enjoyed Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure. It continues to provide some nice, relaxed farming for me and feels like it has plenty of objectives that keep me motivated to farm and grind some more. As the game is in early access, the developers have provided a wonderful roadmap for us, and it does all look very promising for it. Next year, there is due to be a multiplayer update, which I think will be a great addition. I also see that there is due to be a console release, including Nintendo Switch, which is excellent because I do believe this is a game that could work really well on a handheld console to play on the go. I see in the Steam review that it also works on the Steam Deck, which is yet another check in its favour. I’ll definitely be revisiting Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure as updates roll out, and new things are added, because I’m genuinely curious to see this continue to grow until its final release.
Lj’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
For more information on Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure use the following links...
Snowcastle Games - Developer | Publisher | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Many thanks to SnowcastleGames and Keymailer (Game.Press) for the Review Key.
Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure | Windows PC
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