The teams behind the popular island-themed city builder ISLANDERS (2019) announced they’re releasing a dedicated VR version next month.

ISLANDERS: VR Edition, which is all about building cities on colorful islands, is being created by original developers Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, and Stage Clear Studios.

The minimalist strategy game is also set to be published by Coatsink, the pioneering VR studio known for VR games Shadow Point and the Esper series, and having published Onward and Jurassic World: Aftermath Collection.

Here’s how the studios describe Islanders: VR Edition:

In Islanders: VR Edition, you begin with a blank canvas and a small set of minimalist buildings. Your goal is to populate and enrich each island with your creations, unlocking new buildings as you go by achieving a maximum score. Points are earned by carefully placing each building, being mindful of their surroundings like providing clear access to natural resources and making sure entry isn’t blocked.

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Islanders: VR Edition is set to launch September 28th on Quest, where it’s now available for pre-order for 10% off.

The game is also headed to SteamVR headsets, although the studios haven’t released launch date info for platforms besides Quest at this time.

In the meantime, check out a brief bit of gameplay below:

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • sfmike

    Wow, this makes Meta’s Horizon look graphically lush. Get an art director.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      To be honest, I like the minimalistic look. Not everything has to look realistic.

      • ViRGiN

        Not every subject require your expertise. Get a life and stop being so toxic

        • Andrew Jakobs

          Wow, coming from the most toxic user here on Road to VR….

    • ViRGiN

      And sound artist. There is like a single drop building sound lol.

      On steam is €5, on quest €15. Looks like someone told devs that tech vr demos are selling for more than his base game..

    • VR5

      The game has good art direction. What it doesn’t have is detailed/realistic graphics. That’s part of the art direction’s concept.

      Like the article states in the headline, this game was well received as a flat game. The visuals were as well.

      If anything, the appeal of a game like this demonstrates how the dismissiveness towards stylized VR games is non sensical.

      Back in the day I read some weirdo claiming Tetris is a bad game because it has bad graphics and is repetitive. It was considered the best game ever then and still is considered among the best today.

      Your taste isn’t everything and it isn’t even shared by a majority.

      • Kenny Thompson

        In Ultrawings 1 we use subtle gradients on the low poly work to move away form the generic flat shaded style. It was super low budge but makes a big difference. Practically every surface has a subtle gradient.

        • VR5

          By “well received as a flat game” I meant as a monoscopic/2d/non VR game, not as a flat shaded one.

          Anyway, Goraud shading isn’t expensive. If a designer today picks flat shading then it’s not because of performance but for stylistic reasons. Simple is the goal in this case, as also evident in the gameplay.

          The non VR version is also flat shaded but it has more realistic lighting. That was seemingly toned down. Very common occurence in flat to VR conversions, as well as in PC to mobile.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      I have seen lego stuff that looks better than this…

  • Seems relaxing

  • gothicvillas

    Even don’t know what to say.. I guess it’s normal for mobile vR

  • I don’t mind the aesthetic, not sure if the gameplay is interesting enough though. But I am starved for city builders. I think I own every single one on the Quest store.

    What’s frustrating is, when searching for more info on this game, Steam mentioned a really innovative , simple game called Dorfromantik, which would look amazing on the Quest. I wish more developers would take a moment to look at developing for VR. It’s really not that hard to add VR support. I added it to AlienTSA, going from a cellphone game to VR, in less then a month, and I’m only a novice programmer.

    • VR5

      Raicuparta showed an early VR mod of Dorfromantik in October last year. But he is burned out on modding and has paused working on them (also Dorfromantik only was one candidate among many).