Moonstone Island

Initially the sheer amount of stuff to do was overwhelming. Farming, crafting, monster collecting, deck building, world exploration, getting to know the villagers, most games would pick two or three of these and run with it. This is definitely not one of them and yet it manages to succeed for the most part.

The game starts out with a brief tutorial, then tosses you in the deep end. Early game consists of short trips off the island, looking for mines that hold resources to upgrade your tools, figuring out the battle system and raising villager affection. Slowly you'll make your way farther and farther from your home island, until you unlock the last form of transportation, this is where the bulk of the game opens up. It took a while for me to make the connection, but progression feels very much like Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

The randomly generated map is divided into a grid, and most squares on the map contain an island that has monsters and seasonally rotating plants to collect based on the island's biome. They can also have a dungeon or shrine that contains treasure and equipment that help you reach new areas or let you create your own shortcuts. There are dozens of islands and while not all of them have something exciting, there is still fun in wondering what the next island may have in store.

Story progression is fairly open ended, and the game doesn't do much handholding at all actually, which may turn some players off. The farming and crafting systems are very light, I didn't interact with them much at all. You get access to sprinklers early on and there are far better ways to earn money than growing crops. You can find many of the potions you can brew in chests, most of which become obsolete once you craft items to reduce elemental damage from harsh biomes. The dating sim aspects are totally serviceable, though the decision to bury lore about the world's history unless you date a specific character was kind of strange.

Honestly I could ramble on about more specific likes and dislikes, but overall the game's ambitious scope doesn't hold it back too much. No mechanic is truly useless or frustrating, visually it is vibrant and pleasant to look at (though some character customization would have been nice), and the music did not play very often during my game but I also have no complaints there. Again, this is primarily a deckbuilder with a focus on world exploration, if that unusual combo sounds even kind of interesting then I highly recommend you check this game out.

Don't expect another Stardew, there are some similarities in quaintness and pixel art style but the farming aspect seems to be mostly an afterthought, you can get by just fine without farming at all. Where this game shines is in the exploration. There's a big map and while there are really only a handful of different types of islands they all have their individual quirks to explore.

There are some slight balance issues IMO, relationships are slow to build but then suddenly move quickly and I was already married within the first year. Would be good to make it a little harder. Also marriage does not change the game that much other than that character hanging around in your house a bit. The other balance issues is that I find the card battles aren't THAT challenging, as long as your spirits are at a similar or higher level than your foe you will pretty much always win.

It's also a very warm-hearted game with a lot of really nice touches, very accessible and welcoming to all people. Cute graphics, cute spirits, funny parts and one of the islands looks like Australia.

I disagree with the reviews saying this is a boring game; you won't enjoy it though if you don't typically play casual/stress-free games.

This is a cute creature collecting game with farming, strategy, puzzles, and of course customizing your space with lovely decorations. The NPCs all have their own personality and there isn't any 'wrong way' to play the game. It's cozy and laid back. If you happen to 'die', there's no real consequences, you just wake up 3 hours late the next day and get whisked away by a magic man that brings you back to his chicken coop home.

It's meant to be a relaxing, non-stressful game. If you're looking for something with difficult puzzles and intense battles with punishment for losing, this may not be for you. (Later game battles can give some challenge though such as needing certain creature types, abilities, gearing up with potions, etc.).

Ah yes, Pokemon Valley.
There’s Monster collecting, alchemy, exploration AND life sim? It’s like it was made for incels like me!
It’s like Stardew Valley plus Pokemon plus Slay the Spire. Damn, that seems like a winning combo doesn’t it?
This game is so beautiful and intricate!Pokémon meets Stardew Valley meets Kiki's Delivery Service... like with a smidge of aspects from Skyrim and Adventure Time
The art in this game is so lovely and it is so much fun. Also lots of Kirby vibes!!!
It’s like the best combination of all the genres I love! Grabbin’ the weighted blanket for this one ladies…
This game is good. REALLY good. It scratches my card building and Pokemon itch while somehow making me stay for the farming aspect, despite its huge emphasis around the combat system. It really is a combination of all of my favorite genres. There's better deckbuilders, farming sims, monster collectors, and open world games out there... but Moonstone Island keeps me bouncing back and forth frequently enough that you never really care how relatively light each aspect of the game is, because it somehow connects so INTRICATELY together. I got the same feeling playing this that I did Stardew. It may be simplistic but it's exactly what I want from a cozy game.
Gotta find mines for the Iron and Copper to make sprinklers to automate my farm to grow 3 different crops to help with my exploration on islands I'm underleveled for so l can tame spirits I don't have so I can get new types of resources to make new potions and furniture! NOTHING I do is a waste of time! Except fishing! Screw fishing l've been looking for this mythical Moonstone Cinderfish for like 5 in-game days now!
You're playing as a little "Alchemist" doing your thing. You catch Spirits and use them to fight other Spirits. The spirits are all fun and unique looking, and tempting spirits to join you by taming them is a cute process. They level up, gain new skills (in form of cards), some of which are unique to certain sprit types. If you keep them in your barn instead of having them travel with you, they give your Sprit resources and sometimes Spirit Eggs which you can hatch. You fly to new islands, pick plants (depending on biome and season), and can then plant them in your garden and/or green house. From those plants you can then brew potions (alchemy!), and while they don't seem like much in early game, they are really powerful later. The game starts off slow, it’s true. You’re put on an island with not a lot to work with. It’s a great starting hub for figuring out how to approach the islands you’ll find once you’re ready to start exploring, but everything you DO have is very accessible.
You explore dungeons which contain some fights and VERY easy puzzles. You do interior design in your house, and I have enjoyed this in Moonstone Island far more than in Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing. There is so much nice furniture, and then you can also design your own walls and floors on your looms (look it up!). The freedom they give you is crazy (you can build anything, anywhere, including your home).
It's engaging without being challenging and chill without being tedious. I love exploring a random new island everyday and discovering new surprises. The spirits are adorable and I actually think the NPC’s are refreshingly normal. The relationship system and villagers are very simple but cute, and they have different and varied responses based on day or what you've done or your relationship level. On dates you kind of get dumped into the middle of the kind of conversation you'd expect from random people day in and day out. Relationships are not as deep as Stardew or similar games yet, but romances in these types of games tend to be the cherry on top for me, not the focus. So far my favorite is Quill, he's very charming. And with the Valentine's update they actually added marriage to the game!Along with some more spirits for you to catch!
I usually don’t like combat in farm games simply because it’s often brain dead and sort of… pointless? Like you smash one button and that’s it. So I was happy this one incorporated both a Pokémon-simplified card battler thing. It made it so much more rewarding and captivating. For those that are afraid because of how combat heavy this game is compared to others in the genre, if you ever loved a Pokémon game and it’s turn based combat system, you’ll feel right at home. It’s about as difficult as a Pokémon game too, so I really wouldn’t fret over that. Not stressful at all, just fun.
The graphics are cute, controls are fine, and the devs are actively improving the game. Things that were a problem at release are now fixed. For example: You can now sent the Spirits you tame to the Science Center once your barn is full. No more letting Sprits go! The only criticism I would have is that it gets a bit grindy after a certain point to level up your Sprits , similar to Pokémon games. But you can brew XP-potions to help with that and as there are also so many other enjoyable things to do this is just a minor point for me.
But overall I really loved the game. It's like Stardew mixed with Pokemon, mixed with Zelda, mixed with a card based battler. It combines so many of my favorite genres and is so charming. It's another game made by just a few people which is awesome. Not a big studio. Great price point, tons of content and oh yeah, very replayable because it procedurally creates your world which will be unique to you. It's wonderful. Can't recommend this enough. It's so good. Very relaxing, cute music, just strange enough to be charming. For the price point, give it a shot!
10/10

Music is integral to the gaming experience, so it blows my mind that the game developers still haven’t done anything about the fact that the songs are (A) really short and (B) don’t loop?
What you get is a super short song that plays once, then you’re left with silence. It’s very off putting and makes the game feel half-baked. This needs to be prioritized.

Stardew Valley meets Pokemon meets Slay the Spire. Cozy deckbuilding, creature collecting life sim.
PROS:
- Pretty, meticulous visuals. Really pleasant, good quality pixel graphics. Better than one might be used to in indie games.
- It's fun to explore all the sky islands.
- Good mechanics and balance of the card battles, intersting take on deckbuilding.
- Many creatures (Spirits) to collect with varied cards depending on their nature (water/fire/poison/electric/ghost/dark).
- Befriending the townsfolk with interesting personalities, and a lot of small stories to discover while dating them.
- Cozy, laid back theme. You are not forced to do anything. There are no deadlines. There are (almost) no penalties for passing out during night or being defeated in battle.
- Decent crafting mechanics with slight balance issues.
MEH:
- The music isn't bad, but could use more songs, more variety. Especially combat songs get old quickly.
- One might complain about crafting balance. In most games farming sprinklers are somewhat advanced technology. Here sprinklers are available almost immediately, and the crafting recipe is easy.
- Slight balance issues in befriending townsfolk. Some people's favorite gifts are garbage items harvested all over the place, which makes leveling up the friendship very easy.
CONS:
- If you need a game with strong objective and targets, you might get somewhat bored.
GAMEPLAY 9/10
GRAPHICS 10/10
AUDIO 6/10
STORY 7/10

This is a very low stakes play-at-your-own-pace game mixing elements from farming sims, dating/social sims, pokemon-style "spirit" collecting/raising/battling, and tactical card games. That's not to say there are no objectives or anything to aim for, it's just that YOU will largely have to set that tone for yourself. This is pretty great if you are just looking for a relaxing experience and enjoy this cluster of genres.
You start on a floating island where the main Hub is (NPCs, shops, all that good stuff), and by the familiar loop of gathering materials, crafting, upgrading, battling and capturing stronger spirits, etc., you slowly work your way out to surrounding/distant islands where you'll find new materials, spirits to collect, and defeat various island Bosses to progress and increase certain stats and wash, rinse, repeat the cycle.
On the spirits: Each spirit can belong to one of eight elements, which all have various resistances and powers to the others. Each spirit will come to you with it's own "starter deck" of cards to play with. You can have up to three spirits with you (with additional in storage). When you battle, the "decks" from each of the three spirits with you combine to form one large deck that you draw from when you battle other spirits. As you progress, you will be able to modify these decks and also the cards and in this way you get some pretty interesting combinations, synergies, and set-ups that can be quite satisfying.
You have daily and seasonal cycles to contend with (affecting crops, and certain spirits), and penalties for things like missing your bedtime are very VERY minimal.
Does this game hugely break the mold in any way? No.
Is this challenging? I mean, "challenge" is very subjective but compared to other titles in any of the mashup genres, no, Moonstone very clearly just wants you to indulge in its offerings.
Both the art direction and OST/SFX are crisp, bright, and delightful. I have enjoyed most of the spirit models I've seen so far too. The NPCs feel like actual people, albeit just a little limited in how deep your dialogue and interaction can go. Personally, I can take-or-leave this aspect, but since it's there it's nice that it is competent.
UI is just fine, makes sense. I have played almost exclusively on Steam Deck and have had no issues EXCEPT for a strange chuggy lag that happens intermittently and inexplicably. I believe devs are aware and working on a fix.
Overall, I've had a lot of fun here: 7/10