Island Market Simulator lets you build your own shop in a little slice of paradise, although all is not as it seems: Wild events, crazy locals and a grand selection of licenses and products come together for a genuinely hectic experience, alone or with friends!
Your first stop, when reaching the island, is getting yourself going. Once a brief (and pretty wacky) tutorial featuring your shop helper and aliens is out of the way, you’re free to explore, buy, sell and plunder riches from the island or its populace, all while keeping its three main factions relatively happy and building a nice reputation for your little store.
From the store side of things in Island Market Simulator you can pretty much sell anything from eggs to more exotic fruits and vegetables provided you’ve paid the local government for the licenses for the more exciting items in the market. Once the bureaucracy is out of the way you can head on down to the port and order your goods for next day delivery.
Every day that passes will be featured on a calendar that is located in the middle of town, events such as the “tribal” festival or the “patrolling guards” event may help or hinder you as you choose what to sell on particular days. The tribal festival, for instance, will bring more people and a colourful theme to the island meaning that there is more demand for supplies whereas the guard event stops pesky thieves from robbing your store.
You don’t always have to be behind a till minding the store, Island Market Simulator has lots to do outside of just servicing the many people on the island: Quests, hidden quests, mini games, gambling and much more are available across the island for you to explore and play to either make the day go a bit faster or earn a bit of coin in other ways.
If strolling through the streets isn’t your forte then be sure to utilise the glider that is located in a tree house just outside of your house. This makes getting around easy and can be especially useful when you want to grab your orders from the port first thing in the morning. Also be sure to invest in the little helper character who can do some of the more boring chores for you such as fetching crates, watering plants.
Be sure to check out the tavern as it not only provides a place to hang out and play games but isn’t a bad money maker once you get the hang of the drink pouring mini game. I think you can net around 100 gold if you get it done perfectly which is no small amount to add on at the end of the day, especially in the early game.
You can also grow your own fruit and vegetables as well as raise cattle on the island letting you become a truly self-sustaining environment as well as customise and improve your store and the other facilities at your disposal to venture out into other enterprises. Island Market Simulator also has a little house for you to fully customise as you earn a bit of money to treat yourself in your own home.
Island Market Simulator is admittedly not the prettiest I have ever laid eyes on and part of me suspects that it may have been intended to be a VR game at one point with some particularly floaty hands but where it lacks in visual content it more than makes up for in gameplay.
It’s important to mention that this is not just a single player experience but it actually made it better in Co-op as you can split your group into different roles for a day of either exploring or selling. One person can be manning the desk in the store while another can be across the street making potato sandwiches for the hungry customers.
If you would like to try your hand at another co-operative experience, albeit on the other side of the law then be sure to check out our review of Crime Simulator where you and three of your friends can band together to steal to your hearts content on a number of heists and sprees while meeting a quota.
Island Market Simulator is a lot of fun and while it does look a little rough around the edges, don’t be fooled as it has a surprising level of depth and content available for you to venture into with your friends.
If you would like to get your hands on Island Market Simulator then you can find now on Steam.
