When it comes to cozy and compelling games of note in the indie gaming space, even all these years later, it feels like Stardew Valley remains the gold standard. While I know not everyone was as enamored with it as me, I was shocked at the amount of time I’d clocked on it while it was on PC, only then to pick it up again and invest more time on a new run on Switch. Since the time of its release it seems like there have been plenty of titles trying to capitalize on some aspect of that experience, or even in some cases outright copy it in some way, but none have gotten terribly close to the mark.

Enter Moonstone Island, a title that seems to be very aware of the Stardew formula, and absolutely has wrapped most of its elements into its DNA, but then just kept going, and going, and going. Do you also happen to love Pokemon and other monster trainers? It has it! Perhaps you’d prefer the combat to incorporate elements of deckbuilding in order to allow you to customize and develop your own strategies? Done! Did the confines of town ultimately make Stardew feel a little on the smaller side? Not a problem, just fly away to new islands in search of treasure and adventure. What makes Moonstone Island pretty compelling is that its scope is wide enough that you can just about enjoy it with a focus on whatever you happen to like the most… and for the most part that plan works.

Well, unless there are some specific things that you happen to prefer focusing on that the game supports, but not as thoroughly or in as satisfying a way as you may like. Did you really love building relationships with the townsfolk, getting to know their stories that can sometimes have surprising twists? Well, you can talk to people daily, give them gifts, and eventually try to go on dates with them, so most of the elements are present, but overall the characters don’t feel as developed to me. The deckbuilding and turn-based combat can be really cool, and you’ll definitely want to diversify your elemental types and their cards to be the most effective, but in many regards the combat felt pretty simple more often than not, with its focus on breaking shields in order to stun your enemies and then pound on them. Just on a general level, as much as there is to do, and as many systems and subsystems as there are, there’s an inevitability that the deeper you dive into some of them the more you’ll see that some of them are simply a nice facade, but always too much more.

All that said, do I still think that as a package it’s pretty brilliant? Absolutely! For me the hook, once I got the right crafting elements going, was exploration. I loved first taking a balloon, and then a broom off the side of an island wondering what I’d find elsewhere. Sometimes new biomes and creature types, sometimes a temple, and sometimes just an area flush with plenty of resources to collect. The nice thing is that ultimately the game leaves it to you to decide how you want to play it, and that can be refreshing. I’d argue that if you’re looking for it to all come together towards a conclusion you’ll likely be disappointed, as in the end this is more of a sandbox experience than a narrative one, but it’s also easy to get lost for quite a number of hours just enjoying yourself however you see fit.