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Overview
Starsand Island launched into Early Access on February 11, 2026. The reception was strong: over 100,000 players in the first week, a peak of 10,000+ concurrent players on Steam, and a "Very Positive" rating at 92% from 1,700+ reviews. The pre-launch Steam demo had achieved an even higher rating: "Overwhelmingly Positive" at 96% from over 1,000 reviews.
The launch was not without incident. A reverse review bombing controversy drew media attention when suspicious ultra-positive reviews appeared within hours of release. See the "Review controversy" section below.
Critic reception
PC Gamer called Starsand Island "the first can't-miss cozy game of 2026," with the reviewer noting 20+ hours played. The review highlighted the profession system, character charm, and Ghibli-inspired art.
GamesRadar+ described it as "the most invested I've been in a cozy game for years" after 25 hours.
COGconnected called it "the next evolution of the cozy life sim."
NookGaming recommended a "wait and see" approach due to technical issues, while praising the core gameplay loop.
OpenCritic showed three reviews at launch, all scoring 8/10.
Common praise
Item | Description |
|---|---|
Art direction | Watercolor backgrounds and Ghibli-inspired environments were praised across reviews |
Profession variety | The five professions provide distinct gameplay loops that complement each other |
Content depth | Multiple reviewers confirmed 20-25 hours without feeling close to finishing |
Building system | The building and terraforming tools stood out as unusually flexible for the genre |
Traversal | The vehicle system and island exploration were described as smooth and enjoyable |
Common criticism
Item | Description |
|---|---|
Localization | English text had translation issues: awkward phrasing, inconsistent terminology, and occasional untranslated Chinese strings |
Audio mismatches | Some voice lines did not match on-screen dialogue, likely from script changes after recording |
Progression bugs | Several quest blockers in the first week, most fixed by patch 0.2.1185 |
NPC depth | Some reviewers found character development and romance content thin, with certain romance paths appearing unimplemented |
Controller issues | Bugs with tree chopping, mining, and UI navigation on controller. Fixed in the February 19 patch |
Review controversy
Within hours of the February 11 launch, community members and content creators noticed suspicious ultra-positive Steam reviews. Red flags included:
Reviews from accounts with less than 10 minutes playtime, posted at the exact moment of launch
Some reviews mentioned features not yet in Early Access, like multiplayer
Several accounts refunded the game after posting reviews
Writing style appeared AI-generated in some cases, generic praise with no specific details
YouTuber Josh was among the first to investigate, identifying accounts with near-identical activity patterns. The story was covered by Kotaku, GamesRadar+, The Escapist, Game Rant, The Gamer, and Dexerto. The media described it as a case of "reverse review bombing" artificially inflating scores rather than deflating them.
Developer response
Seed Sparkle Lab posted a public statement on day one, claiming innocence. The statement read: "We have recently noticed a large number of overly positive praise comments" and asked "whoever may be behind this, we kindly ask you to stop." The studio said they were working with Valve to flag and remove fake reviews, both positive and negative.
Despite the controversy, the game's genuine reviews remained positive. The "Very Positive" rating held steady as legitimate players continued posting authentic feedback.
Related articles
Overview general information about the game
Reception and community broader community response
Seed Sparkle Lab developer studio
Development history Kickstarter campaign and pre-launch timeline
Update history patches that addressed launch issues