Arbor Island

I quite enjoyed exploring Arbor Island and finding all the hidden items. This is a pure scavenger hunt game with absolutely no story, but with gorgeous graphics. You arrive suddenly on the beach of Arbor Island and are advised to go to the notice board which gives you a list of items to find. Some are quite small, but all items shine when you touch them. You find a metal detector which finds the coins on the beach. There is a meditation spot on each environment which triggers an achievement. There is the beach scene, a lovely meadow, zen garden, campfire and mushroom forest with a lighthouse. All are beautifully created and designed with appropriate music. There are a few off the path sites to explore which give you some stunning views. I found it very relaxing to play, but some of the items were challenging to find. Just think where you would find certain objects in real life. This is a short game, but it was hard on my rig which heated up quite a bit. I had to put it on medium graphics to get through, so optimisation is an issue Some mentioned drops in frame rates, but I had no problem. Make sure you save often because even if you go to the main menu, the game can reset…

So...the idea is cool. The music is cool. The sand castle puzzle in the first zone is cool. Everything else is crap. On a really good machine, the game is suddenly dropping frames until it becomes unplayable. Changing the video settings to medium or even to low doesn't help, Actually, you cannot change the settings in game, you have to restart the whole thing (which at least temporally restarts the framerate). Each time when you sit on one of the meditating places, the music and sound volume is resetting to absolute maximum, Some of the items you need to find are nearly invisible (see my screenshot for the location of the duckin' Animal Bone if you don't want to spend 45 minutes looking for it). Score: 2/10

Relaxing, interesting, soothing, and charming. If you like cozy games, this is a MUST! Some areas on the map make you want to stay and relax for hours. Strongly recommend to play!

About two hours in and this game, for me, is quite 'meh'. Get this on sale, not worth full price. It feels like an asset flip, but one of the better ones out there. The music and scenery are beautiful. The controls and camera are a bit clunky. I havent had an issues with them yet. The items are fairly decently hidden but when you get stuck, you are stuck. there is little to no help. One more thing to keep in mind is to SAVE OFTEN.