Product Info

Platform

Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC

Publisher

Rokaplay

Developer

Rokaplay

Genre

Adventure, Education, Simulation

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

1.2 GB

Release Date (NA)

Mar 7, 2025

Purchase From

eShop

PSN Store

Steam

Sugardew Island is a cozy farming simulation game that is very colorful but doesn’t go far enough to make life as a farmer longlasting.

Bringing Life Back

Ages ago, humans, animals, and forest folk lived together in harmony on an island. During this timeframe, the Harmony Tree was born at the center of the island. However, things didn’t last long. Humans began to be greedy and wanted to chop it down, causing the animals to flee. Only a single creature that possessed the trait of each animal opposed the greedy humans. Due to the rupture in harmony, the ground split, and thorny vines covered the tree and spread over the entire island. The humans fled the island in response, leaving it a mess.

Fast forward to the player’s character who’s out sailing, looking for an adventure. Well, be careful what you wish for. Things take a turn, and they are shipwrecked on the island where humans once lived. You awaken in a house and are greeted by Tomte, a traveling trader. Tomte introduces you to his makeshift setup: a place to sleep, a workbench, a livestock area, a storefront, and two areas where you can farm and gather resources such as lumber and stone.

Tomte then brings you to see the Harmony Tree, which is still covered in thorns, and the nature spirit that’s trapped in there who once opposed the humans. The creature has doubts that you can help bring harmony back to the island and reunite everyone, but they’ll see how it goes. Tomte sets up his shop near the tree to sell you plant seeds, livestock, and other materials.

Your Own Storefront for Harmony

To take on quests, speak to the creature (not the nature spirit) by the Harmony Tree. There are five animal islands (Bunny, Piggy, Deer, Ferret, Owl) with five quests per island that need to be completed before finishing the game’s story. Completing them also unlocks the ability to purchase and build things, such as strawberry seeds, larger house plans, upgraded tools, etc.

Each quest has the same goal but in different amounts. For example, the first quest for each animal island is to collect twenty-five Harmony. Each quest has a higher number that goes up to five hundred. To collect Harmony, you will need to sell goods at the storefront for the Forest Folk, small creatures that live on the island. These creatures hide and only come out when your store is open. You can sell just about anything, from raw materials to fences. These creatures will buy or negotiate your pricing. If they don’t like the answer you give, they will dump the items they collect into the recycle bin where you can collect them to sell again. However, you have to wait until the store is closed to do this. Closing the store can be done manually by initiating a command on the controller or once everything is sold. The number of items you sold are counted as Harmony. You are also given currency from the Forest Folk to use to help purchase seeds, livestock, or upgrades. The storefront is a unique idea that makes Sugardew Island interesting.

Once the store closes, day becomes night. Even if you don’t go to the store, it remains daylight until you do this. Unlike other farming simulators, you aren’t in a rush to complete your tasks within a certain amount of time, which is great. Similarly, there are only three types of weather that occur: sunny, rainy, and windy, and no change in seasons.

Additionally, you can take requests from other spirit folks who will place a bulletin of wanted materials. You don’t have to accommodate these requests, but you’ll also miss out on the Harmony that can be gained by completing them. It’s just another way to gain extra income for that larger house you have your eyes on. For those looking for partnership, the game has a feature where you can go on “dates” with each of the four spirit folks. These are more like added side stories that are not necessary to complete the game’s story.

Smooth Sailing

If you’re concerned about running out of resources, such as cutting down too many trees, don’t worry. Trees and other resources come back within days of in-game time. You can gather a few bags of seeds by visiting the animals near the Harmony Tree daily to prevent too much spending at Tomte’s business, though. The game clock definitely works in your favor, and farming is straightforward as long as you water your plants. Basically, it feels too simple to eke out a living and could therefore use extra steps. Perhaps a calendar could be implemented where on some days you need to harvest and sell certain foods to earn extra cash. For example, every tenth day, tomatoes sell twice as much.

There’s not a lot of depth in Sugardew Island. You complete quests by earning Harmony and that’s it. How you do it is the only thing that adds layers to the gameplay. You don’t need to purchase upgrades for your house or tools. Just selling raw materials is enough to get Harmony if you play it the easy but longer route. You can be creative with your farmland by adding fences and walkways between each area you’re growing, but without that extra layer of content, it feels more like a chore, especially when you are doing the same routine everyday. Get up, harvest, plant seeds, water the plants, cut down wood, hammer stones, milk the cows, open/close the store, and go to bed. Do this for about seventy days of in-game time and you save the island. After the credits roll, you can continue your daily routine, but right now, there’s nothing else to keep you around. Adding different types of quests or new animal islands, or having new humans come to the island that need assistance could bring some replay value to the game. Adding new outfits and more character customization options, such as hairstyles, would also be great.

Colorful but Small

The colors are bright and cheerful in Sugardew Island during the day. It certainly lives up to the name Sugardew. It’s too bad the music doesn’t stand out like that, at least in a positive way. It’s too bland and tends to transition too long between areas. Honestly, you’re better off listening to your own music while playing. There are issues of polish, too. Character facial animations look awkward as if they aren’t fully attached to their faces. Also, the dialogue feels empty and corny and is in need of some adjustments. A patch can at least fix these, though.

The Final Harmony

Sugardew Island is a colorful and cozy game with some interesting ideas like the storefront. However, despite a stress-free experience, the gameplay lacks enough depth to keep players on the island for a long period.

A PlayStation 5 code provided for this review.