Castaway Paradise Preview

Getting stranded on an island would be the pits. You’d have to struggle with finding food and shelter, not to mention fending off whatever dangerous vermin resided there. But what if you found yourself on an island filled with upbeat characters and all sorts of fun activities to partake in? Well, it wouldn’t be all that different from Stolen Couch Games’ Castaway Paradise.

Apparently paradise is an island full of talking animals.

Inspired heavily by Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, Castaway Paradise is a game about customization and adventure. You’re provided a sandbox in the form of an island, where you have absolute control over the appearance and economy. If you want it to be covered in trees and crops, that’s your prerogative. If you’d rather take a more minimalistic route, you can do that, too.

But that’s only a portion of the experience. The inhabitants of your island will provide you with a steady stream of quests and activities, not to mention regale you with bizarre anecdotes and other such things. This is largely where the Animal Crossing influence seeps through, as your villagers are a very diverse cast of characters with varying wants and needs. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but I really hope that no one in this game as rude as Mr. Resetti.

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Players can also customize their character’s appearance, as well as create an absurd amount of items—ranging from hats to bridges to umbrellas. Personally I have hopes of creating an island that’s covered in hats, simply because I can.

Castaway Paradise will launch next year on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC. If you want to play it on PC, it probably wouldn’t hurt to hop on over to Steam Greenlight and give it an upvote.

News
December 18, 2013
Castaway Paradise is Animal Crossing meets Harvest Moon
By Jillian Werner
If there's one game type that is egregiously missing from the ever-growing trove of the App Store, it's the Animal Crossing-like life sim. Even with vaguely similar entries like Happy Street and The Sims 3 available on iOS, nothing quite scratches our itch for a colorful, cartoony world where you can spend all day fishing or decorating your den—until now. Castaway Paradise by Stolen Couch Games intends to fill that gap and then some, offering a living, breathing world that is inspired by Animal Crossing but expands upon it in ways that will keep players busy, challenged, and right at home.Castaway Paradise takes place on a collection of islands that gradually open up as the game progresses. Players will assume the role of their personally designed avatar, who washes up on shore and decides to make the most of their shipwrecked situation. While you'll start with only a small, donated tent to house your few belongings—basically the clothes and seaweed on your back—it's easy to begin making money and become a productive member of island society. Similar to Animal Crossing, fishing and bug-catching are lucrative means to expand your coffers, but the bucks don't stop there. "Animal Crossing is the obvious inspiration indeed," Eric Diepeveen, co-founder and game designer at Stolen Couch Games told Gamezebo. "We're diverging from that game by making the gameplay deeper and more task-oriented. We like Animal Crossing, but we're not huge fans per se. My personal problem with the game is the lack of tasks. That's why I designed Castaway Paradise more like a social game.
Reviews
October 13, 2014
Castaway Paradise Review: Animal Crossing Timeshare
By Jillian Werner
From our very first glimpse of Castaway Paradise’s colorful island retreat, comparisons to Animal Crossing were inevitable. The casual life sim is openly inspired by Nintendo’s town-building juggernaut, aiming to offer a similar—yet more quest-focused—experience on iOS. The final result …