Remember Starsand Island? The impossibly cute anime RPG explicitly inspired by Stardew Valley? It was a huge hit at Steam Next Fest earlier this year and fully captured the hearts of several GamesRadar+ writers, myself included however briefly. Well, it's back with the full 1.0 update, launching out of Steam Early Access on Tuesday, August 18 with a bevy of new and expanded features.
Developer Seed Sparke Lab, a name I just adore, revealed the contents of Starsand Island's 1.0 update in a couple of Steam developer updates. The big selling point is the addition of multiplayer, which, you guessed it, lets you hang out with your friends online in the game. Similar to how it works in other life simmy games, the host of the island can open it up to other players, including friends and randoms, and set permissions as far as what resources can be harvested.
There's also a new in-game economy tied to the multiplayer system that doles out points for doing specific activities with your friends, like fishing, farming, exploring, and taking pictures with them. You can head to the new multiplayer shop to exchange your points for "a variety of useful and lovely items."
The 1.0 update also has some pretty neat-sounding narrative stuff that should add a new dimension to your relationships with the other islanders. New "relationship stories" are unlocked once your relationship status with an islander reaches three hearts, and from there you'll unlock letters from them as well as special quests deepening your relationship with that islander even further. Speaking of which, the dating system has been "upgraded" and "expanded" for 1.0 with new activities like picnics, arcade game challenges, and kite-flying.
With 1.0 nearly here, you might be wondering what's next for Starsand Island, but so far the developer has only said it'll be "listening to your feedback, fixing issues, and improving the game" after launch. Given the early access success the game's seen so far, and the longevity associated with farming sims, 1.0 is likely the beginning of a long road ahead for Starsand Island.
It's worth noting that Seed Sparkle has been accused of forging Steam reviews to boost the game's profile, although the developer has strongly rejected those claims and insisted someone else was behind the fake reviews.
