Hello Kitty Island Adventure could be your next sim obsession

Of all the games I played at Summer Game Fest (SGF), Hello Kitty Island Adventure was probably the most out of my wheelhouse. That’s because these kinds of Animal Crossing-style sim games aren’t normally my thing. But after hearing my colleague, Bradley Bennett, praise Island Adventure, I was curious to check it out once the appointment invite came my way.

And lo and behold, I was pretty impressed with the breadth of content of the experience. During a post-SGF Nintendo Direct, developer Sunblink confirmed that Island Adventure, which has only been available on Apple Arcade since last July, will be launching next year on PC and Nintendo Switch (as a timed console exclusive) followed by PS4 and PS5.

In general, I’m always happy to see expanded multiplatform releases like this, as more people absolutely should be able to play any given game. But beyond that, I’m looking forward to seeing a larger audience get to experience this game, in particular, given its quality.

The main reason for that is what it does differently from other sim games. Yes, there’s a lot of the island customization and cute characters that you’d expect from the genre, just enhanced with Sanrio’s massively popular cast of familiar Hello Kitty faces like the titular cat, Cinnamoroll and Kuromi. But it’s the various gameplay twists that shake things up.

For one, venturing off into a more forested area of the island meant I had to climb up a hill, and I was surprised to see a little Breath of the Wild-style stamina wheel pop up. This adds a bit of the Zelda game’s strategy to the mix, as you have to be more methodical in when and where to climb. This also factors into reaching underwater areas, which, alongside the likes of volcanic and icy mountaintops, only further expands the variety of locations.

In these areas, you’ll also have to take on little platforming challenges beyond simply climbing, including jumping and gliding with little balloons. I was never expecting “dungeons” in a Hello Kitty game, but they’re a solid addition. All told, these exploration and platforming elements are simple enough to be easy for all audiences to pick up and play and I appreciated how they shook up the core gameplay loop.

Of course, the core of the social sim genre — the town management and character interactions — is here, with some welcome tweaks. Most appealing to me is the fact that there’s no monetary economy, so you never have to worry about owing anyone money. Instead, you exchange items with each character, and figuring out which ones they prefer will help further your relationship with them. I’ve always enjoyed this angle of the sim genre, even in RPGs like Persona and Fire Emblem, and that remains true here.

The only area in which the demo faltered was in its performance; the Switch version I was playing chugged a fair bit. Still, there’s plenty of time between now and launch to iron out these kinks, especially since I was clearly playing an early build.

Otherwise, I dug what I played, and I’m surprised to say that as someone who has no attachment to either sims or Hello Kitty. The fact that the game is coming to other platforms roughly two years after its Apple Arcade debut means new players will have even more content to experience (on top of continued free updates), which should address a concern Bradley Bennett had in his original preview. And, of course, there’s multiplayer, which I didn’t get to try but will no doubt add even more value for people.

Definitely Hello Kitty Island Adventure on your radar going into 2025. For now, the game is available on Apple Arcade, which costs $6.99/month.

Image credit: Sunblink