Islanders: Mobile review - " A satisfying low-key strategy experience"

• Build beautiful cities on colorful islands
• Relaxing atmosphere
• Use Boons to give your island a boost

Indie city manager Islanders has officially launched on mobile. Like the PC version, in Islanders: Mobile, you’ll build civilisations on a plethora of vibrant isles, all without the restraints of typical resource management.

Enjoy a calming musical score that enhances the Zen-like experience as you carefully craft your island paradise. It’s a cosy strategy experience meant to be relaxing rather than mentally taxing, and boy, does it deliver on that front.

Islanders: Mobile Replaces Resource Gathering with Points

Usually, in the strategy genre, a good deal of time is spent managing and acquiring resources. But this little city builder does away with all that. Instead, what you need to collect are points. Everything you add to your island, from hop fields to sandpits to mansions, gives or subtracts points from your score depending on placement.

Each round, you’ll have to choose which of 2 building packs to unlock, such as the Seaweed Farm and Brickmaker packs. After making your choice, the pack’s items will be added to your inventory. Unlocking the Seaweed Farm gives you access to both the farm and a few seaweed fields.

Every buildable receives bonus points or loses points when built, depending on what structures are nearby. A blue circle surrounds the building you’re actively pacing. Anything within the circle will be affected by the current placement. For instance, mansions gain eight bonus points when placed near a City Center but lose three points when near a circus. 

Use Boons in Islanders: Mobile to Get Ahead

Sawmills, Brickyards, and Lighthouses lose points if placed too close to another building of the same kind. Every round has a point goal you need to reach to continue building on the island, so build strategically. You can view your current points in the lower left corner.  While simple, the point-based gameplay can be trickier than it seems and offers more of a challenge than you might think. 

From time to time, you’ll also be given a pair of Boons to choose from. Boons are essentially power-ups that give you a one-time boost. The Shrink Building does as its name implies, giving you more space for further construction, while Demolish removes a building of your choice, letting you keep 60 per cent of the points earned from it. Still, others just give you a free resource like the Add Statue boon. 

While these perks don’t tend to net you a huge amount of points, they can make the difference between earning enough to complete a round or coming up short.

Islanders: Mobile Features a Soothing Sandbox Mode

Besides the main gameplay mode, there’s also a Sandbox mode, which offers more freedom. Sandbox mode gives you access to every buildable resource right from the get-go. You can easily build your dream isle civilisation with almost no limitations. There’s no need to worry about points here. You’ll just be expressing your creativity through island design. 

In this mode, you can tap the mountain in the lower right corner to adjust island settings such as island size, type, and biome. Be aware that changing any one of these settings will erase your current aisle and all the building you’ve done and generate a new one. Between isle options like tundra, fantasy, and the diverse weather options, you can create some interesting island civilisations. And honestly, it’s just fun.

Islanders: Mobile is a charming, minimalist strategy experience that’s as calming as it is enchanting. Challenge yourself in High Score mode or sit back, relax, and build your dream island in Sandbox mode. The point system provides a surprisingly solid challenge, and testing out different Boons is pretty sweet.

With beautiful and vibrant graphics, easy-to-pick-up gameplay, and a serene soundtrack, Islanders: Mobile is an excellent choice for fans of strategy and cosy experiences alike.