ⓘ Steam

Seed Sparkle Lab's island life sim, Starsand Island, has officially left early access on 18 August 2026 — it is currently sitting at the top of Steam's popular new releases with a 20% launch discount against its $39.99 price. It landed the same day on PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 alongside the full Steam and Xbox releases. That marks a four-platform simultaneous rollout for a game that partly funded itself on Kickstarter, where it tripled its goal and closed above $300,000 in May 2025.

Version 1.0 delivers what the roadmap initially promised. Online multiplayer supports up to four players. The island host decides who visits, and there is a dedicated currency and shop attached to co-op. Official mod tools come with a ModKit and Steam Workshop support as well. Relationships get the deepest pass — new three-heart story arcs and an expanded dating system is now available across the island's cast. Plus, there's a seasonal Autumn Pumpkin Carnival, and the new console builds now support mouse controls, especially for building.

Days after February's early access launch, the game was hit with a wave of fake positive reviews; the studio denied any involvement and publicly asked whoever was responsible to stop. In April, the game disappeared from Steam altogether. Seed Sparkle Lab said "certain core visual elements from a classic title were used without proper authorization" in a minigame, but they never named the title — though players on the game's subreddit were confident it was Tetris. A new, corrected build went to Valve, the game returned, and every owner received a free outfit set as an apology. It's still there on the store page — listed as the Shining Star DLC at $0.00.

Reception is pretty solid, all in all. The lifetime English score is "Very Positive," 88% of 2,532 reviews, with over 6,510 across all languages. Recent reviews are somewhat softer at 63% of the last 147. Requirements are also quite forgiving: a GTX 650 minimum, RTX 2060 recommended, and 20 GB of storage. Physical PS5 and Switch 2 editions will come on 12 November.

Check out Starsand Island on Steam here.

Anubhav Sharma - Senior Tech Writer - 1904 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2024

Most of my time goes into writing - and somehow it hasn’t stopped being fun yet. My work mainly revolves around everyday tech, gaming, watches, DIY modding, and the occasional piece on tech-policy chaos when companies and governments clash. I try to keep things simple and honest, without sounding like a product brochure. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering and an Associate Degree in English Studies from the College of New Caledonia in British Columbia, Canada. Away from articles and deadlines, life usually shifts to making music, taking photos, or trying to finish games that should have been completed months ago.