Get Ready for Starsand Island: Exclusive Preview Insights

Authors Note: Content shared in this post is from an exclusive preview build of Starsand Island from May 2025. Some features/gameplay may not be present or will differ in the final version of the game.

Welcome to Starsand Island, the upcoming new cosy farming and life simulation game from Seed Lab! The game combines a variety of many much loved features from the relaxing cosy games many of us love to play! Having recently been revealed at the first Galaxies Showcase, Starsand Island is due to release during the fourth quarter of 2025 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch consoles.

So without further ado, let’s dive in and have a look at the game’s trailer and explore some of the features in this exclusive preview of Starsand Island!

Character Customization

Upon entering the game, we are straight into choosing and customizing our character. There are a handful of options to choose from, spanning across hairstyles, outfits and accessories.

Upon choosing your outfit, you decide your name and then off into the game! Don’t worry if you don’t get quite the right outfit first time round, as you’ll be able to purchase more clothing and footwear options from one of the local stores in game.

Welcome to Starsand Island

Now that we have our character in their outfit and have a name, it was time to begin our journey. The game guides you through basic movements and a few fundamentals to get you going. With the help of your childhood best friend, you are soon on your way to collecting and earning your first, thirty, Starshells. This being the currency used within Starsand Island.

This is where you start to get some freedom to explore. At least in the immediate area. Collecting resources to earn Starshells by placing them into the Instant Shipping Box. Relatively easy and straightforward!

The Island Life App & Your Mobile Phone

Upon earning the required number of Starshells, I could move onto completing my first certificate. This allowed me to now craft basic tools that would come in handy in my day-to-day island life.

What is interesting is how many options you have within your phone. There certainly are plenty of apps to help you throughout the game, as well as easy ways to check recipes, take photos, keeping track of where you are on the map and of course the Island Life App itself.

The camera app as well, for those of you who love taking in-game photographs, is incredibly easy and fun to use too!

Described as the must-have app on the Island, Solara sends it to you so that you can start exploring what features it has. The easiest way to describe it is that it’s a way to keep an eye on your progress of current quests that you are completing. It also allows you to see future/upcoming quests too.

Over time, there’s the potential for more apps to be added to your mobile phone, such as the Starsand Journal. It contains not only tasks you can do daily but also more long term ones. These will also award you with Starsand that is another currency as such that you can use in-game to unlock recipes or help complete quests.

Exploration Adventures!

After a good night sleep, it was time to set off on not only exploring Starsand Island but also collecting as many resources as possible. Although first, an axe and pickaxe were needed and very soon after crafted and ready to go!

The main goal was to not only collect resources, but to also head into town and sell anything I no longer needed. This would help towards my current quest for the amount of Starshells I required but also Starsand. I also kickstarted my apprenticeship journey with one of the five available mentors. For my time with this preview, I decided to go with the crafting mentor.

Setting off on completing my Apprentice Crafter certification was easy. Simply complete the associated quests, and then you have finished everything required and can move onto the next stage. I’d describe these types of quests as more a tutorial to teach you the basics of various features you’ll use throughout the game.

Upon completing my Crafter Apprenticeship, I unlocked the Career Manual on my mobile phone. This handy little app allows you to spend Starsand to level up in different skill areas.

Moving Forwards

I continued on my way, not only exploring what areas are available in this preview version of the game but also picking up one of the many other profession apprenticeships to start learning about other useful trades such as Fishing and Animal Husbandry to name a couple more.

I’m also currently working through my next round of main story objectives, which currently hold some higher goals to complete. It certainly is keeping me busy in the meantime!

However, I have also been trying my hand at crafting various resources and furniture, learning more recipes, build up a bit of a backlog of resources to have on hand ready to continue crafting and also trying my hand at building.

What took me by surprise was just how easy it is to craft and create new objects. You’ll see exactly what you need to know in the crafting screen and can even make multiples in one go all from the same screen!

When I’m not working through the various quests, or crafting/harvesting resources, I’ve been having great fun riding around the island on my Skateboard! Yes, that’s right, skateboard. There are also a number of other vehicles you can purchase too!

I acquired this through one of the small quests when I was exploring and after a moment or two wondering if I could work the controls, I nailed it and was soon skating off into the distance. It certainly has made for some fun and interesting ways of traversing the island.

Kickstarter

The Seed Lab’s Team currently have a Kickstarter Campaign running for Starsand Island. There are plenty of information and updates from the Team about development, as well as answering some of the burning questions from the community.

The campaign runs until the end of May. You can find out more about the Kickstarter via the button below.

Overall Starsand Island Thoughts

As this is still a very early preview version of Starsand Island, there has been and still is plenty to experience. There are still a number of areas and features not accessible currently, and that’s due to ensuring they are revealed and delivered to the high standard and quality that Seed Lab want them to be.

However, what I do have to say is this exclusive preview has been an absolute blast to play with. I know this is merely showcasing the core features of the game, but there is truly so much to discover. From the moment you land in Starsand Island, to meeting residents, learning skills, making friends with the local wildlife, there is plenty you can do, but what the game doesn’t do is rush you to move onto the next quest or anything like that. Simply work away at quests or collect resources, or even just exploring to your heart’s content.

At this moment in time, Starsand Island certainly does feel to be that cosy, wholesome and heartwarming game. While this is merely a snapshot of what’s to come, I do feel this is a game to keep on your radar in the lead up to the release! I’m certainly excited to see what else the Team have planned for the game, however for now, I’m diving back into the game to see what else I discover!

Finally, I’d like to once again thank Seed Lab and Renaissance PR for the opportunity to be a part of the Starsand Island early preview.