Studio Supersoft's creature-collecting, deckbuilding life-sim Moonstone Island is coming to Switch on 19th June.
As announced by publisher Raw Fury with the new trailer above, the game — which launched on PC last year — will be making the jump to Nintendo's platform along with new collectible spirits and a new marriage component.
Full disclosure: Just a heads-up that erstwhile cow-and-crab-loving Nintendo Life staffer Kate Gray is a writer on this game. So while we'll certainly be playing Moonstone Island, we won't be reviewing it on the site, unfortunately!
The game falls squarely in the cosy farm-sim genre, with some exploration, deckbuilding, and potion-brewing Alchemy thrown in for good measure. You explore dozens of procedurally generated islands, making friends and building your home along the way, and crafting gear to help you survive the dungeons, temples, and other areas filled with not-so-friendly things waiting to do battle.
Here are some of the features of the Switch release highlighted in the PR blurb and some screenshots:
Additional Spirits - Check out a new roster that has grown since the game’s launch on PC, including over 70 new spirits to capture and collect.
Thrilling Rewards – Risk the never-ending dungeon with rewards that make it worth the danger.
Exciting Decorations - Grab the "Decorator's Pass" that will grant access to all the DLC cosmetics since launch, with more coming this year.
New Marriage Component - Move in with a chosen spouse, after a special wedding scene.
The game currently has a 'Generally Favorable' 80 Metascore for the PC version, so you'd hope the Switch port will arrive in even better form coming nearly nine months later.
Comments 28
I do love cows and crabs
Kate’s profile says “Former Staff Writer” btw! Might be worth fixing if that’s wrong 😄
https://www.nintendolife.com/authors/kategray
@cookiki I think that's still true! I write occasionally for the site still, I'm just not a full-time staff writer any more
Fist of Fun reference! Well played
@KateGray oh haha that’s cool! Looking forward to the game and next articles then 🤓
Ooh I'd been waiting for this one, nice to finally have a release date, and in less than a couple of weeks too. This and Dicefolk being release back to back... big couple of days for indie games revolving around collecting creatures.
I appreciate you guys recusing yourself from reviewing the game, even though I’m sure it would have helped the publisher, and your funny friend (and Kate is funny FTR).
Glad it’s coming to Switch! I was more likely to pick it up there since I’m still waiting on getting a Steam Deck.
@TotalHenshin hello there it's me, a person who is not Kate, as you can tell from my large and glorious and very real moustache. Moonstone Island is very good. you can trust me because I am a real moustache man
Moonstone on the Amiga was a great game. This looks... entirely dissimilar tbh, but also good.
creature catching and deckbuilding SOLD!
There’s moons, there’s stones, there’s islands… what’s not to love?
Day one for me.
Looks cute! The term 'deckbuilding' is trying to scare me away, but all the rest of it looks great and it's Kate's game, so I will check it out.
@KateGray Good day good fellow. Your missive is much appreciated. I’m glad this community has such objective, unbias- WAIT A MINUTE! 🕵🏽♂️
@KateGray If there is a physical release, please ensure moustache man's review is on the back of the box.
no! the front of the box.
No! make a box out of moustaches.
@Mattock1987 I was scouring the article for the reference then saw the sub-heading. I loved Lee and Herring.
@TotalHenshin UH. I MUST LEAVE. I HAVE MANY MOUSTACHE MEETINGS TO ATTEND
@FishyS I promise it's not that scary. I actually got one of my friends into deckbuilding by making them play Moonstone Island, lol
now they're playing Balatro and Slay the Spire for fun!
I’m unsure how to feel about this.
It looks REALLY cute and I’m a big fan of Pokemon-likes and the monster designs also look cute here. At the same time I’m seeing a lot about the Farm Sim side of things and as much as I’ve tried I really struggle to get into farming sims.
How central is the farm sim gameplay to this? I had really enjoyed Garden Story which was really cute and had very, very basic gardening that was never too important to get super involved in.
@KateGray Been looking forward to this release since it caught my attention on the CozyGames sub Reddit, and had no idea you were a writer on it! Heard a lot of good things! Def picking this up and congrats on the game!
@KoiTenchi you really don't have to engage with the farming much at all. It's mostly there so you can grow crops that heal/buff your Spirits and make potions, but you can find the crops in the wild or buy them. There are a couple of quests that will require certain crops, but it's not hard to find them.
We tell people it's not really intended to be a farming game, it's more about the creature collecting and deckbuilding, but you can engage with the farming side as much or as little as you want!
@Dm9982 I'm the only writer and also the community manager! If you see someone saying they're Moonstone Island on Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, or Discord, it's probably me!
I appreciate the update! I was worried that since NL wasn't doing a review this would release without my noticing.
@KateGray
Thank you so much for the explanation! This sounds VERY up my alley then and I’ll be keep an eye on it.
I was originally a bit worried from the article stating “the game falls squarely in the cosy farm-sim genre” but from how you describe it Moonstone Island it sounds so much more like a Deckbuilder / Pokemon-like with some light farming on the side.
Man the Nintendo Switch couldn't go one year without a farming game.
2017: Stardew Valley
2018: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope
2019: My Time At Portia
2020: Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
2021: Fae Farm
2022: Harvestella
2023: Rune Factory 3 Special
2024: Moonstone Island
@Serpenterror and the problem is exactly?
Keeps on looking great so I'll eventually play it for sure, thanks @KateGray and the rest of the developers for making it!
As a connoisseur of crabs and cows, consider my curiosity captured.
For clarity, I mean that I like to look at them, not eat them. Have you ever gazed at a crab? Try it sometime.
Watch the game show up on the next 3 iterations of "what quality games did we miss?"
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