Island by
Nicolas Brondino & Carine Nicollet

A punishing strat & roleplay game about surviving alone, stranded on a reef in the pacific. Battle hunger while pushing madness away.

General Information

Developer - Nicolas Brondino & Carine Nicollet

Publisher - Nicolas Brondino & Carine Nicollet

Release - 2019

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Island is a roleplay and strategy game where you play as a castaway in the eighteen century. Inspired by Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and Jules vernes' "L'ile mysterieuse" (Mysterious Island) style and setting, and carefully crafted by a tabletop GM, the rules of the game are designed so you, the player, can quickly take the game in hand, and is then quickly offered a punishing challenge.

Explore carefully a procedurally generated island.

Scout areas for ressources and dangers and plan your trip cautiously. Each island will offer a different challenge in matters such as accessible ressources, events, means of escape, and other elements. The game's action happens spontaneously in the short and long range views, each side of the screen allowing you to plan your next action with a short or long range skill, depending on what seems to you the most urgent need to fulfill.

Each action, be searching for ressources or just exploring, costs time and energy, and the night draws near. Will you reach your shelter in time or build another one in a hurry with whatever you can find ?

Will you reach your shelter in time or build another one in a hurry with whatever you can find ? Deep in each area, battle danger, hunger, sunburn, and fever, to collect scarse ressources. Each type of terrain will offer specific ressources and challenges, and depending on the island generated for you, you'll have to adapt to the situation.

You'll be able to walk, swim, paddle your way through various unwelcoming terrains.

A side of the island with mostly mountainous terrain will probably offer caves for protection, while another flatter side of the island, with mostly beaches, will provide ease of access for fishing. Jungle, on the other side, will give access to plenty of wood and foliage to build strong shelters. Always keep an eye for ressources on the map like fruit trees, or areas of specific interest.

Focus your ressource research on construction elements, like branches or foliage, or more urgent necessities, like food and water. Each area will offer specific ressources and dangers, and you will have to plan your collection depending on your needs.

Water is certainly the most crucial of the ressources you will need. Keep an eye for sources, or rivers. By default, find a pond or a swamp, but make sure that it's clean enough to drink. Always keep in mind in your journey not to stray away too much from hydration sources, or come up with a way to bring the precious fluid with you, and save it to the last drop.

Rather than most survival games that are real time, Island lets you experience the whole "try to survive for months on a desert island". Because it's rather about strategy than say, collecting branches one by one, the action pauses when you need to think about the next step, and each day for our castaway usually takes a few minutes for you, letting you focus on the real, long term survival experience.