Coral Island Early Impressions

Let’s not beat around the bush with this one – Coral Island is a Stardew Valley clone. Or if not quite a ‘clone’, it is tipping its toes right up to the very edge of that line.

It has a distinct enough identity that perhaps ‘clone’ (and in particular, the often negative baggage that comes with the term) isn’t fair, and it expands in some potentially fun directions with diving and an underwater world to explore.

I backed the Kickstarter for this one way back when, but didn’t until recently give it a lot of time. I poked my nose in a few times during alpha but largely wanted to await the 1.0 release. (Which came out November 2023.)

Having now given it some time (around 5 hours so far), I can happily say given the chance to do it all over again — I’d still happily back it all over again.

Jumping back to why the ‘clone’ label may apply though: The game is Stardew Valley through and through, from the learn-by-doing skill system (with upgrades happening while you rest at night with new perks/craftables unlocking), the villager relationship system, the seasonal events/festivals, the gradual upgrades of your equipment, bags, housing, and farm in general.

It’s all there.

But you know what?

It’s fun. It’s cosy. And Stardew Valley was itself heavily inspired by Harvest Moon.

Coral Island forgoes the beautiful pixel art stylings of Stardew Valley though, and replaces it with beautiful high-definition but still stylised, light and airy graphics.

In my time with Coral Island so far, I’ve managed to expand my humble farm plot out a little more than what you see above, upgrade my bag size, unlock the first elevator and floor set in the first wing of the mines, begin to explore the underwater diving portion, activating several of the energy pylons down there, met all the villagers, and kicked off stories both mundane and mystical.

Just like Stardew Valley, I find myself setting goals day by day as to what I want to focus on, in particular when it comes to managing the limited resources of both Stamina and Time.

Oh yeah- one other thing I have done, I managed to miss the first festival, because I had neglected to prepare the day before, then spent the day-of getting ready for so long I missed it.

Everyone I spoke to the following day made sure to mention to me what a good time I’d missed. Hah.

If you’re someone who enjoyed Stardew Valley, and you’re looking for more of it but in a different package, with different villagers and a different story — you wouldn’t go wrong with paying Coral Island a visit. With it being in the Humble Choice bundle for September 2024, that just makes it even easier to recommend.

I have a lot of games on the go at the moment, and even so, I’m still contemplating adding Coral Island to the mix even so. A lot of whats on my gaming platter right now are quite intense — Deadlock especially! — so the reprieve from this could be quite a nice change of pace. :)