This Anime-Style Cozy Game Is One of the Most Charming Farming Sims Coming in 2026

With Starsand Island entering Steam’s Next Fest from Oct 13 to Oct 20, I had the chance to check it out myself after following the game since its Kickstarter phase.

The anime-style art combined with its cozy farming simulator nature already had me intrigued, but it wasn’t until I got to play the game that I saw its charming potential.

While There Are Still A Lot of Things to Improve, Starsand Island Has the Potential to be the Best Cozy Game of 2026

While I only played Starsand Island for a few hours during Steam’s Next Fest, I immediately saw the charm in the game with its whimsical town, adorable pets, and flavorful characters.

By just playing the game for a few hours and following its main objectives or missions, you can already see the depth of Starsand Island. Since your “menu” goes through your phone, apps are littered with teasers on what you can expect throughout your time in Starsand Island.

Opening the Islandpedia alone and looking at over 1,395 different collectible items from categories such as farming, foraging, livestock, crafting, cooking, and home decorations. If you dive a little deeper, you’ll even find certificates, buffs, modes of transportation, and more. It even has some automated blueprint features where you can stockpile thousands of materials to instantly build a pre-made Homestead or even a massive Pool Houseboat.

You can already see potential community submissions of their awesome artwork for players to copy or follow.

I am already in awe at how beautiful the game looks, and to see how it has so much depth already should make cozy gamers excited for its Q1 2026 release.

However, it is still several months away from release, and there’s a lot of improvement to be done. Overall, the game feels clunky and sometimes a bit awkward. First, the gathering and foraging movements feel off, as performing actions isn’t as fluid as you would want for a farming sim.

Second, the movement with the skateboard also feels clunky with every little bump on the road, causing an annoying drop animation when you roll through them.

Third, the build control mechanics don’t feel intuitive. The building process, from choosing an item, placing it on a specific spot, and rotating the item, feels slow.

However, these aren’t big deal breakers, especially after seeing how in-depth the game is already. Hopefully, there could be some positive changes over the next few months before their launch in Q1 2025, which they are targeting for a February 1, 2026, release.

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