Coral Island is a game that I’ve put so many hours into but I just can’t recommend it in its current state. The game has been out long enough that it should be in a recommendable state but the game is so poorly optimized. I was an original backer for the game and two years later there are still so many unfulfilled promises, and we might get a single update a year so the Kickstarter promises might be fulfilled by 2028 which is unacceptable.

The game is beautiful, I love a lot of the romance characters and I even like the impact of cleaning the ocean but everything just feels like it takes too long to start making money, fishing is unenjoyable until you upgrade your rod to at least Gold quality.

I like the new hangout system once you get to two hearts with a romance character but marriage still seems pointless when the biggest feature of the kickstarter was that the kids grow up and that’s a few updates away meaning it’s a few years away from being implemented.

Island hopping was also a big Kickstarter goal and it’s not even mentioned on the current Roadmap. The lack of communication by the developers is atrocious, the only posts on Twitter is an annoying back and forth between Stairway Games posting gifs of the game and the Coral Island Twitter account replying with emojis.

It’s so unfortunate how much potential this game has and how massive of a success the Kickstarter was and a lot of the goals still aren’t even implemented. The game still feels like it’s in Early Access even though it’s been in 1.0 for nearly Two Years. I’d recommend waiting for more updates, but because the updates are once a year, you’ll be waiting a long time to actually play the complete game that was promised…

I’ve spent almost 90h in this game and decided it's time to write a review for it. To make it very short: I definitely recommend it!

A few more details:

First and foremost, the game is a lot of fun and the huge amount of content makes it feel endless. The devs put a lot of effort into it, and it shows. I'm a huge fan of the art style and I also love getting to know all the characters.

There are quite some similarities to Stardew Valley, but if you're a fan of farming simulators, this won't bother you. Besides that, the game does manage to find its own identity as you progress through it.

I know some people complained about it, but I didn't encounter a lot of bugs in my 90h of playing. I also really love the message this game is sending.

So, that's that, now back to playing, cause I still have a lot to to on my farm 💪

Great game! it has Stardew Valley vibes without the stressfulness :)

longest game i grinded out of all the games i have right now. boyfriend said im addicted, just like how he's addicted to dragon ball z. there's always more to discover the more you explore. 10/10. <3 love u coral island. oh yes, hope our farm land will be able to turn green instead of just brown dirt. and i wish we could save normally instead of having to sleep and skipping a whole day TT

It's hard to recommend then you played day that you did a lot of things and then the game freezes or crashes, and you need to repeat everything again.
Plus a lot of cut content, bugs, bad design choisses.

Yuri my beloved

I am really sorry to give this game a negative review. But the devs are well aware of some bugs and other issues and still don't fix them for a couple of months now. Some achievements still don't trigger for a lot of people.

This would be a great game if you can survive the bugs. I love this game, so it breaks my heart that I could not survive the bugs. I've poured many hours into this game and for the first time, I was working my way toward the end game goals, but the further along I went toward those goal, the bigger the bugs got and the more frequent they became. I had my final straw today, and it's with a heavy heart that I close the game for the last time until there's another large update and they finally fix what's broken. Would I recommend this game? I would. I would, but with a warning. Buyer beware. It's incomplete.

I am the target audience

Great game.. A lot of content. buying earlier but playing late