Restore Your Island

Restore Your Island is a relaxing sandbox game designed to promote environmental awareness about pollution and waste management. Its gameplay is centered around restoring a litter-covered island to its former beauty. Your main goal is to clean up the environment, fertilize trees, and watch the maritime fauna slowly return as you bring life back to the island.

The game starts rather slowly, as you are allowed to pick up one piece of trash at a time. Thankfully, the trash bin you place has a pretty generous range, letting you toss debris from a distance rather than running back and forth constantly. Selling the collected trash earns you coins, which you can reinvest in buying food to replenish your energy bar, or several other upgrades: expanding your energy bar (allowing longer cleaning sessions) or the capacity of your trash bins. You can even purchase additional bins to sort trash by type (plastic, cans, biodegradable). Later on, you’ll be able to unlock tools that drastically speed up cleaning by scooping up the trash from a small area in one go.

Restore Your Island has a clean and intuitive user interface. The tools you unlock can be accessed via a toolbar at the bottom of the screen, which also displays your current energy level. Hovering over a trash can conveniently shows how many items of each type it holds, which makes it easy to efficiently sort waste according to its type and thus get the coin bonus for doing so. A progress slider on the right side of the screen fills up as you tidy the island, showing your progress in real-time.

Furthermore, as the island becomes cleaner, the environment also gradually transforms. The weather changes from cloudy to sunny. The waters turn crystal clear, revealing reefs and schools of fish underneath their surface. Little seashells and starfish begin to appear on the beach. These visual transitions are smooth and satisfying, reinforcing the feeling that your hard work truly makes a difference.

While the core gameplay loop is simple, it can easily feel repetitive. However, [i]Restore Your Island[/i] is clearly designed to be a meditative experience rather than something to give you a challenge. Between cleaning sessions, you can unwind by interacting with your dog or sitting by the campfire. And while you work, you can use your cassette recorder to listen to some chill tunes. The game’s zen-like atmosphere and slow pace may not appeal to everyone, but for those seeking a laid-back and eco-friendly sandbox, it delivers a surprisingly peaceful and satisfying experience.

_{Disclaimer: This review is based on the demo version of the game and may not reflect the final release.}