Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands Reviews

Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands is ranked in the 10th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
5 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2019

I can’t find the entertainment in Stranded Sails. The quests aren’t fun, what little progression that exists is there to help ease the tedium of completing the repetitive fetch quests in the first place. I can’t even say it is a relaxing game because the energy bar is frustrating and the sole means of combating it lacks any kind of interesting engagement. Yet if it was removed the game’s existence would be that much more mindless bordering on an idle game.

Read full review

Oct 17, 2019

Stranded Sails I would say fits just right in the genre with its own take. If the intro hours were a little quicker I think the pacing would feel much better and I worry some folks will stop before getting there. It reminded me of the first time I played Harvest Moon 64. I had no idea what I was doing, but slowly and surely I came away feeling accomplished and satisfied. Stranded Sails gave me that feeling of heart and charm with a pirate twist.

Read full review

3 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2019

Stranded Sails is one of the weakest titles released this year. A game lost in the search for its identity with the combination of survival and agriculture themes has created a boring and repetitive title. Despite all the bugs, you have to experience this gameplay again and again. No one is advised to experience this title with its current state. Even if we ignore the bugs, the whole game is not really worth the time.

Review in Persian | Read full review

B-
Oct 18, 2019

It doesn't drastically change the genre, but Stranded Sails is enjoyable. The stamina bar can be very annoying, but don't let it stop you from enjoying what the game has to offer. The straightforward approach to task completion is a benefit for those who need more guidance in their sim games. If you are looking to try out a simulation game, then Stranded Sails might be a good jumping-off point.

Read full review

Jacob James
Top Critic
5 / 10
Oct 27, 2019

Farming, crafting, exploring, discovery… all check-boxes marked. Unfortunately, Stranded Sails never introduces enough depth or reason for fans of the genre to really dig in and stay a while.

Read full review

5 / 10
Nov 1, 2019

MEDIOCRE - A farming sim adventure on a deserted archipelago certainly has a great ring to it, and the setting is ripe for a lot of exploration, discovery, and some clever mechanics. Stranded Sails however falls a bit short in nearly every department. A heavy over-use of a convoluted cooking mechanic and other issues prevented the game from reaching that addictive quality that is required for games like these.

Read full review

Recommended
Nov 6, 2019

Once you have some meals to take with you, cooked using the things you grow, you can venture out in your rowboat (rowing devours your energy, especially with big waves) and explore the other islands for materials, crew, secrets and other plants/food that you can bring back with you and use in camp. This gameplay loop is fun, marred a little by the quick drain on your energy. Exploration is going to take you a long time, many repeated trips across the ocean and in some cases you'll only get a handful of materials for your troubles.

Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Oct 17, 2019

Despite some of the non-enthralling parts of the farming and cooking, they are still fun enough to keep me repeating them over and over and continuing through the game, even if the plot lost my interest pretty quickly after the excessively long prologue and first few days getting oriented on the island.

Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Nov 13, 2019

Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands is a fun and relaxing title that allows hours to simply tick past as you walk / run or row your boat from one island to the next. Exploring sandy shores is just as relaxing as going into caves or fishing underneath a stone outcrop. There’s nothing really hard about it as everything will come to you in time, you just need to get there first.

Read full review

7.3 / 10.0
Oct 18, 2019

Developers of the game were inspired by Harvest Moon and many similar games, but they created something different, yet familiar. The game offers nice graphics, relaxing gameplay with plenty of survival and base building mechanics.

Review in Polish | Read full review

Avoid
Dec 31, 2019

In its current state, Stranded Sails is best left marooned on its island of sadness.

Read full review

6.5 / 10.0
Oct 17, 2019

If you can get past the somewhat slow returns on quite a bit of grind, it has some survival appeal

Read full review

5.8 / 10.0
Oct 29, 2019

Stranded Sails is an okay exploration game that rewards you for adventuring into the nooks and crannies of its tropical islands.

Read full review

5 / 10
Oct 16, 2019

Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands is a solid entry into the farming and exploration space, and a perfect entry level title for younger gamers or those new to the genre. Its simplicity helps it stand out in the crowd, but not always for the best reasons.

Read full review

Oct 16, 2019

Though it's a bit more survival-focused than other games of its kind, Stranded Sails is still a mostly quaint and worthwhile farm life sim any genre fan will enjoy.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Oct 17, 2019

I preferred playing this game docked rather than in handheld mode. A peaceful adventure game like this begs to be played while relaxing on the couch and enjoying the vibrant colors on a big screen. While it isn't the most gripping adventure, fans of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing will probably enjoy it.

Read full review

Cubed3
Top Critic
3 / 10
Dec 16, 2019

While the experience is not an entirely negative one, it leaves little to enjoy when problems start coming up. The charming atmosphere and stylization lends itself well to being a sort of survival-lite adventure for a younger audience; the quests are straightforward; and, finally, the difficulty is forgiving. Those looking for an exploration game will find frustrations abound in this title, and unfortunately the design choices lead to a rather disappointing experience as a whole.

Read full review

6.5 / 10.0
Oct 13, 2019

Stranded Sails is a great survival experience for young gamers or people new to the genre, but experienced players will find little in the way of appreciable challenge.

Read full review

GameSpace
Kelley
Top Critic
4.8 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2019

Stranded Sails is the perfect game for those who enjoy learning and structured game play. I found every new discovery exciting, cooking food for my crew rewarding and fishing as always put me in my zen zone but unfortunately I did not get the adventuring survival I was hoping for which is a shame really because it is also obvious that a lot of hard work has gone into this title as a studio and I look forward to watching Lemondrop evolve.

Read full review

3 / 5.0
Oct 24, 2019

Stranded Sails will be too simple for most players, yet kindly welcoming for those new to the survival/crafting genre

Read full review