It’s time to head back to Starsand Island!
After having played a very early pre-alpha version of the game earlier this year, I’ve been so excited to dive back in and return to island life once again. This time it’s via the Steam Next Fest public demo. This gives potential players the opportunity to experience the first five days of the game.
With that being said, I felt it would be fun to do an almost diary like post documenting what I got up to over each of the five days. It’s been said that the demo is about two and a half hours long, so plenty of time to re-explore the game!
What We Know About Starsand Island So Far
Starsand Island is the upcoming cosy life simulation game that’s set on a truly charming island. Leave the hustle and bustle of city life behind and swap it for days of farming, fishing, raising animals, getting to know the local residents and more!
The game is planned to release in early 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S platforms. This one of a kind experience, with a gorgeous Japanese inspired art style, is one to certainly keep an eye on over the next few months in the run-up to its release!
Starsand Island Journal: Demo Days
This is likely to be a miniseries I plan to continue in the run-up and when the game launches next year. A fun little way to document and share my own experiences with the games with my community and the internet in general.
So without further ado, let’s dive into the first five days of Starsand Island!
Character Creation
First up and before diving into the game itself, it’s time to create my character. Even from what I had previously seen back during the preview, there are certainly a lot more options to explore! With options to customize more than just your outfit. With skin details, make up and skin tones, there certainly is plenty to create your character in the demo.
You can see all the options that come in the demo within the slideshow below.
And with having explored all the options, my character for the demo was ready! Now it’s time to explore and see what has changed in Starsand Island.
Day One: A New Dawn
My first day on Starsand Island was all about laying the foundations for the next few days. Getting those first tools, unlocking the tool bench and starting to make my house a home.
However, it isn’t just the fundamental tools that I gained. It was the introduction to the various applications I can use on the phone, as well as starting to decided which profession I wanted to work on first.
Having spent some time exploring each of the apps, I had a good basic idea as to what each did. However, it was time to get back to choosing my first profession by heading into the town area of the island.
Much like in my time with the early preview version of Starsand Island, I decided to stick with the same first profession, which is the Apprentice Crafter with Zerine as my mentor.
Soon enough, I found myself in the Moonlit Forest in search of various materials to help me craft my first object. A skateboard.
However, soon enough, I had burnt through all of my stamina and was in need of sleep after a tough day of exploring.
Day Two: Exploration Adventures
Emerging from my small tent which was pitched up in the Moonlit Forest, I had two choices. Continue to mine and gather various resources, or continue with my quest as an Apprentice Crafter. Of course, I chose the latter as I still had plenty to explore around the island. Not to mention more secrets that were hiding within the Moonlit Forest.
Now, my first task was to make charcoal and then move onto some Tin Ingots. When it came to crafting these, it was incredibly easy to do. I simply found the item I needed to craft and then adjusted the quantity where needed.
Now, I had my very own Skateboard. The perfect way to get started with travelling across the island. You can even pull off a very cool kickflip as well!
With that being said, my Apprentice Crafter qualification was approved by Zerine, and now I was onto my next adventure. I also used some of my Starsand to unlock and level up my crafting skills a little more via the Workpedia app.
As for the rest of day two, I settled on exploring Starsand Island at my own pace. Discovering the people, places and wonders that make up this charming island.
It was great fun just freely exploring the island and starting to speak to other characters in the demo. I ended up picking a few more quests, including some more profession ones.
Day Three: The Day that went by too Quickly
My third day on Starsand Island started with great intentions. I collected the latest drops from my mailbox and then started collecting resources. However, real life distracted me for a moment and next thing I knew it was evening in my game!
Where did the day go?
All was not lost, though. I would be to attend the Splendid Wonderland: Blue Tears Fantasy event that was just a few in game hours away. The short sub-quest didn’t take me too long to complete and I was soon into day four of my time on Starsand Island!
Day Four: So Little Time, So Much To Do
Starting my fourth day, I felt the pressure on to explore as much as possible that I hadn’t already do so. I rounded off a few more profession quests, harvest more resources to which I ended up crafting more objects and tools and essentially just took everything in.
I revisited the beach and marina area again to explore, following on from the night before. Finally, I explored the Moonlit Forest again, at least what I could once before my stamina ran out again.
Day Five: Rainy Days Are The Best
The final day in the Starsand Island demo was rainy. Much like in real life. It spent the day focusing on my home. Clearing my land in the rain, decorating my home and making it all cosy. I really enjoyed spending time exploring more of the building mode and figuring out how it works. While it felt slightly overwhelming at first, it certainly felt second nature by the time I’d got the hang of things.
Once I was happy with that, I continued to do one last lap of the island. Exploring what I could before my time with the demo came to an end.
It was the perfect in-game rainy day!
Starsand Island x My Time at Portia Collaboration
Alongside the first public demo releasing as part of the October 2025 Steam Next Fest, the team also had more news for fans. This comes in the form of an upcoming Starsand Island x My Time at Portia collaboration.
Within this upcoming partnership, this collaboration will see two familiar characters journey over to Starsand Island when the game launches in February 2026. These popular characters being Gust and Ginger and along with their move to the island will also include a unique storyline to accompany them.
Starsand Island Demo: Overall Thoughts
Overall, the Starsand Island demo has been an absolute joy to experience and play through. It’s mesmerizing and charming, and is certainly one of the games I’m incredibly excited for that’s releasing next year.
I’ve loved revisiting the game, meeting the characters and exploring the island and discovering all the fun and interesting features and locations that Seed Lab have been working on. Even from playing the preview version earlier this year, I can see the work the team have put in to working on the world and the game as a whole.
While this was only a snapshot of what’s to come when the game properly launches, it’s plenty of time to showcase the game as well as what Starsand Island is all about. There is just so much more to this game than meets the eye. The sheer detail in every element of the game is just something else and is something I can’t wait to fully explore!
To find out more about Starsand Island, be sure to follow the game on Steam but also over on the game’s Kickstarter page!
That’s everything for now for Starsand Island and the limited time demo. I’ll be making sure to share more about the game in the run-up and once the game launches next year!
Did you check out the demo during Steam Next Fest? Let me know what you thought in the comments below!
Curious to find out what you can do past day five in Starsand Island? Well, you’re in luck, keep reading here to explore up to day ten in game with me!
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