When it comes to creature-collecting games, deck-building titles, and farming sims, the Nintendo Switch is my system of choice. I love having these games in my hands. Being able to play them on the couch or in bed. The portability is comforting. Moonstone Island gives me elements of all three on my Switch, and I’ve been absolutely consumed with playing it as much as possible. My game is even paused while I’m writing this piece.
For those unfamiliar with the game following its PC release, Moonstone Island involves a young alchemist who finished school and is about to set off on their own. Your goal is to spend a year learning and growing. After taking off from your family residence, your broom breaks apart and you crash on Moonstone Island. It’s a floating island with a whole village on it filled with helpful individuals. You then can set up your new home there, or on an island nearby, and start exploring the floating landmasses, taming spirits, conquering the four seasonal temples, and fulfilling requests.
What makes Moonstone Island interesting is that a lot of concepts and ideas are being tossed at the wall, and I felt like I was free to engage with them in whatever way I’d like. It introduces farming right away for certain beneficial crops that are tied to taming Spirits, buffing or debuffing them, or fulfilling missions or seasonal temple progress, but you can also find these items via foraging on different landmasses. I could assist people with tasks, or ignore the ones that weren’t starred and related to the story. There’s a freedom to it that reminds me of the Rune Factory games once you really get settled and in the swing of things. What do I want to prioritize? Well, then go for it!
I also didn’t expect to enjoy the way Moonstone Island handles its creature capturing and raising as much as I did. It’s more like you’re crafting a deck of cards, rather than a team of monsters. Each one of the three is a third of the whole, with their decks influencing the course of things. Add a poison-type creature to your deck? You’ll get DOT effects. Find a water type? That grants you healing and refresh abilities. Get an earth one? That might use attacks that deal bash damage to break down armor while also inflicting damage. It made me approach team creation differently, because it wouldn’t be so much about dealing with weaknesses. (Though that is a part when I knew I’d head to certain islands or temples.) It was about effectively using the cards that played into my strategies.
And the thing about it is all of these Moonstone Island elements work so perfectly on the Switch. If someone leans heavily into the life sim elements, it is so easy to spend days farming on Moonstone Island and working alongside people. Especially if you get into the dating elements. The island exploration felt equally enjoyable in Handheld Mode. I loved spending a few in-game days getting the lay of the land once I had a glider, then picking up and playing when I had a chance. It also made it easier to fill up my Spirits research, when I was doing some grinding, because I felt I could truly pick it up and play when I wanted, going to an island I knew would have my “target,” and then stepping away when I was done.
Moonstone Island feels like a perfect Switch fit, much like many other games in the genres it represents. Whether you’re coming to it for the life sim and farming elements, the creature catching, or the exploring, it’s just so much fun to play on a hybrid console that lets you pick up, play, and then take a break when needed.
Moonstone Island is available on the Nintendo Switch and PC.
