Desert island games - Who needs Love Island: The Game?
Games to be marooned with
If you know anyone with a smartphone and a love of modern popular culture, they're probably playing Love Island: The Game. Like, right now.
In that sense, Love Island: The Game is kind of like Pokemon GO for Millennials who don't really like games or walking. Except that you're trying to land a very different kind of catch.
There's a similar amount of balls flying around the place, though.
It might not surprise you to learn that we at Pocket Gamer are rather perplexed and confounded by the whole Love Island phenomenon. If we're going to spend time on a digital desert island, we're sure as heck not going to waste time and effort chatting up a a bunch of virtual cretins.
In fact, we'd probably just play one of these desert island games instead.
1
Island of the Lizard King
Now this is the kind of island-set narrative choice game we can get on board with. Fighting Fantasy: Island of the Lizard King is a digital gamebook that sees you embarking across Fire Island on a quest of vengeance and violence, rolling virtual dice to engage in battles with lizard beasts.
2
Oceanhorn
One of the finest desert island games of all time is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Oceanhorn tips its action-RPG hat firmly in that game's direction, with a lovely island-set adventure. You can almost smell the surf.
3
Monkey Island Tales 1 HD
It's no Monkey Island 1 or 2 (RIP), but Monkey Island Tales remains a creditable modern revamp of the beloved LucasArts series. Telltale Games has provided a humorous island-hopping adventure game in its own right.
4
Radiation Island
Who needs fun and frolics on a picturesque tropical island when you can fight to the death against reams of the undead instead? That's what Radiation Island offers: an open world first person survival game where you really, really don't want to receive a love bite from the locals.
5
Vulture Island
An ace 2D platformer that maroons your cast of survivors on a fantastical island. The resulting game is heavily inspired by the classic Mario games, but with an extra dose of exploration and adventure.
6
Island Delta
The Island in Island Delta is the kind that gets requisitioned and turned into high-tech lair by an evil genius, ala James Bond or The Incredibles. It's up to you to launch a daring rescue mission using your ingenious gravity gun to solve clever physics puzzles.
7
PUBG Mobile
Now, if the occupants of Love Island were made to airdrop in and fight to the bitter end in an ever-decreasing circle of death, then we might tune in. Until then, we'll just keep playing PUBG - which is soon to get its very own desert island Sanhok map.