One More Island is a simulator released on May 16, 2022 with, inside, different game difficulties that make it always seem constantly different. Actually it also has the dynamic generation function of the map, but I will talk about this in a few paragraphs. The title was developed by Berg Games and marketed on Steam thanks to Freedom Games at the cost of € 17.99. Obviously we are talking about a single player game and it does not need, in any way, the multiplayer component for the reason mentioned above.
What immediately catches the eye is the graphics, very colorful and well focused on being a construction simulator, at least this is what is described on the Steam page. It actually shows you a whole new world, born from the ground up out of your creative wits as a governor. You will also be able to rely on the Italian language and a tutorial that follows you step by step every time you start a game, albeit the latter is not always very clear. Of course, you can skip the guide once you get enough practice.
Are you ready to meet the expectations of the arrogant Queen?
One More Island will drive you crazy
Not literally, quiet; The story of One More Island is very simple and is not that important to the game itself. You are the new governor of this colony and your job is to govern to the best of your ability. Indeed, we can well say that you will have to give even more than you can, making everything work perfectly. You will start from scratch, first build and then expand and create what the Queen would expect from a guy like you. That’s right, you read that right.
And this is not an offense, at least not directly; the Queen is a very haughty person, so much so that the others are considered nullities. He expects nothing from anyone, except for continuous failures; you will have to amaze her, otherwise she will continue to keep a tone too nice for a masochistic person to the core. The character, like it or not (and I loved it), was created to perfection and in some ways makes you smile. Either way, this is One More Island’s main storyline; the way you play, however, changes with each game thanks to the random map generator. I tried to see if what was promised is actually delivered and I confirm the dynamism of the game, although it has hit the same map twice in a row.
To back up this longevity, because that’s what it is all about, there are two factors of choice by the user. Before launching the map, in fact, it is asked the difficulty level and its governor. Every single choice between these two parts involves a change of what you will face, including environmental catastrophes or otherwise balanced statistics. You may be thinking of slowing down scientific research to have more manpower, for example, and constantly have challenges to face.
Longevity never seen before
One More Island is practically infinite with these mechanics and I haven’t seen such a situation in a long time; let’s understand, each simulator has a very long life for various reasons, but in this case there have been very good choices. But like anything positive, of course, there is a negative counterpart, and One More Island is not without its flaws. The tutorial, for example, has some minor technical problems. Being a guide, which I initially recommend to do completely, it should be clear and concise. In reality I found some distracting partswhere I couldn’t understand the metrics needed to create the various zones.
Each construction within One More Island must meet certain requirements and there have been times in the tutorial when it asked for certain measures, while in practice it asked for others. I suffer from dyscalculia, so I don’t deny that it may have affected my confusion a little, and for that very reason it was very disturbing. From the second run onwards, however, everything went smoothly like oil already knowing where to put your hands. For this it is strongly advisable to carry out all the steps required by the guide during the first few games.
One common thing that will never change is the start was a bit hectichowever slow decision making may seem; you have to decide where to put the furnace, the pier, the area where you can cut the wood and so on. Not fast enough? You’ll get a little notification from the court jester (at the head of the tutorial, apparently) which will remind you of the importance of the zones to be built and of the workers waiting to be able to fulfill their role.
A colony that starts from scratch
In addition to the various areas to be built up, from the foundations onwards, you will have to decide on the hiring of some workers. As soon as they get to work, however, you will begin to hear hammers and other slightly disturbing noises inside the ear cup, in the case of isolating headphones. In some ways it was almost relaxing to listen to them, like a live ASMR. As soon as the zoom got closer and closer to check that everything was fine, there it was the noises mingled with other sounds and the annoyance was beginning to be felt.
The problems with the tutorial, however, are not over; a fairly important problem was that of deselecting one’s choices. Initially I happened to select a wrong area and I could not deselect the choice, not even going to click with the mouse elsewhere or selecting something else in the choice menu. It wasn’t written anywhere the fact that, to get rid of the wrong selection, I had to press the ESC key. I understood this by doing some individual tests and this applies to any other deselection, even if only to change the action to be performed. It is not a question of inconvenience, because it is a key like any other, but it is a lack of clarity which should be implemented.
I really appreciated the fact that, on the official Steam page of One More Island, there is constantly a live show where the game is shown in its interest. Very interesting is the fact that each player has his own way of approaching matches; as for me, I noticed a lot of frenzy at the beginning and then it waned and became not only a simulation and strategy game, but also of patience and waiting. Some actions, in fact, take some time to complete and this means seeing the day counter go on inexorably. Fortunately there is the ability to increase the speed of time.
Shortage of workers for no real reason
The wait I am talking about is perhaps due to a series of actions lined up which, obviously, must be completed by the workers. Unfortunately, however, it has happened often enough to see many of them stop or that they could not complete what was required; it has happened more than once the case of the disappearance of the goods or the non-delivery of food, so much to see dying the hired staff within the colony. This is not a bad strategy, but a strange punishment given to the player. And this happened already on the easy level with no modifier chosen. Maybe we are talking about some bugs? Very likely and it wouldn’t be the first.
Obviously, One More Island is a game to try with a mouse and keyboard, it has nothing to do with any controller or similar external device. Unlike other games reviewed by myself, however, One More Island does not have a DEMO version to try; to be able to play it on PC, therefore, you must meet the following minimum requirements:
- Operating system: Windows 7+;
- Processor: Intel i5 or AMD-FX +;
- Memory: 4 GB of RAM;
- Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 or better, AMD Radeon HD 5000;
- Dedicated memory: 300 MB of available space.