Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a cozy simulation game that offers players a myriad of opportunities for fun alongside their favorite Sanrio characters. Island Adventure comes from developer Sunblink, which previously released the card-battling MOBA HEROish, with Sanrio serving as publisher. The game is clearly inspired by titles like Animal Crossing, offering fresh new takes on some of the franchise's facets while falling a bit short with others.

The plot of Hello Kitty Island Adventure begins with My Melody receiving an invitation to open a gift shop at Big Adventure Park, a theme park located on Friendship Island. However, upon arrival it's found to be in disrepair, and it will be up to players to help fix it. Although island maintenance is a key part of the game, building friendships with other characters is paramount, with over a dozen residents available to bond with. Island Adventure is an Apple Arcade game, meaning it automatically syncs across players' iOS devices and can be played at home or on the go, which suits the genre well.

Related: How to Unlock Hello Kitty Items in Animal Crossing (Sanrio Amiibo)

Character Customization In Hello Kitty Island Adventure

There are three species to choose from when it comes to an in-game character: dog, cat, and bird. Each of these can be further customized with things like ear shape and coat pattern, as well as a myriad of different color palettes for fur and feathers. This can be changed at any time with a mirror, and more palettes can be unlocked through building friendships with different characters. Over time players will also be able to acquire clothing and hats, which can be dyed if so desired.

Friendship Is Key In Hello Kitty Island Adventure

By far the largest gameplay mechanic in Hello Kitty Island Adventure is relationship building with the island's residents. This is largely done through a gift giving system - each character can receive three presents per day, and will receive varying increases in friendship depending on how much they like the gift. Each islander has three gift tags which indicate their preferences, and these can be combined for more impactful gifting. Finding items that can match multiple tags is a fun sort of puzzle solving that offers a twist on the typical mechanic; for example, Cinnamoroll likes both spiced things and hot beverages, making a chai tea a great present.

As these relationships level up, players will receive gifts, unlock companion abilities, and open quests that further the main storyline and give new tools. Companion abilities take effect when characters accompany the player as they do different tasks; Hello Kitty increases the chance of receiving double the amount of baked goods, for instance, while Badtz-maru can help attract rare fish. Island Adventure uses an interesting time system, with elements of both real time and shorter in-game day and night cycles. The gift limit resets alongside real-life days, meaning that sometimes players can only progress the plot a finite amount every 24 hours.

Attracting Visitors & Increasing The Vibe Score

Alongside the island's permanent residents, players can also attract visitors to stay in the many cabins scattered across the world. This works similarly to attracting villagers in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, with each guest having specific requirements when it comes to things like furnishings and location. These cabins are also where players can have creative freedom decorating, as there strangely isn't a personal residence available. Fixing up these cabins and the theme park as a whole through the main story will increase the island's Vibe Score, which is kept track of by My Melody, although it's currently not entirely clear what raising this does.

Exploration & Other Island Activities

There's a lot for players to do in Hello Kitty Island Adventure besides building relationships, with an incredibly huge map to explore that spans several different environmental regions. From the Spooky Swamp to Gemstone Mountain, there's an impressive variance between each of the island's main areas not just aesthetically, but also in terms of the kinds of materials and creatures that reside there that players can collect. Discovering the secrets of the island is truly a blast, especially as new abilities like the flippers and snorkel are unlocked which allow for even deeper exploration.

It's easy to sink a good amount of time into catching creatures and experimenting with different recipes in Island Adventure. Insects can be donated to the Nature Preserve, similar to Animal Crossing's bug section of the museum but with cutesy catches like Tigersnoots and Grubbles. Fish can also be caught throughout the island, and Badtz-maru will reward players for releasing them back into the water. The game offers a large amount of creative freedom when it comes to recipes; players begin with the ability to bake with Hello Kitty's oven, and over time can expand into everything from ice cream making to potion crafting.

Nearly every item found around the island can be used in recipes, and trying out different combinations is a delightful and addictive way to spend one's time in the game. Players will also amass a long list of crafting plans which can be used both for gifts and decor, although the workbench does share the same tedious pitfalls as Animal Crossing: New Horizons - the working animation is quite slow, and only one item can be made at a time. Despite this, it's still satisfying to find new materials and designs and see them come to fruition.

Final Thoughts & Review Score

In drawing heavy inspiration from games like Animal Crossing, Hello Kitty Island Adventure captures both good and bad elements from the genre. The daily gift cap means players can only get so far each day when it comes to unlocking and completing quests, after which there isn't much left to do except creature and material collection. While a similar problem exists within Animal Crossing, the ability to decorate one's home and outdoors helped alleviate this in a way Island Adventure does not. Hello Kitty Island Adventure isn't designed to be played infinitely each day, but with such a gorgeous environment and diverse soundtrack the world is hard to want to leave.

It should be noted that there are several planned updates for the game that will add new content, and there is a multiplayer mode available which I wasn't able to experience due to the game's pre-release state. These will likely help to solve the lack of activities issue, and despite the disappointment felt with wanting to achieve more each day, this is definitely a game that inspires players to return to it frequently to see what new fun there is to be had. While not perfect, Hello Kitty Island Adventure is off to a solid start, offering some fresh ideas for the cozy genre with fan-favorite Sanrio characters.

Source: Sunblink/YouTube

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is available today, July 28, on iOS devices with an Apple Arcade subscription.