Home / Features /Prehistoric shop sim Amber Isle is a cosy little treat ByKim Snaith 10 October 202410 October 2024
It feels a bit disingenuous to call Amber Isle a “shop simulator”. It is, but it’s also much more than that. Putting you in the big clomping feet of a prehistoric creature, you’ve found yourself crash-landed on Amber Isle — and entrusted with the job of reopening the island’s store. Easy enough, right? Except you’ve also got to craft all your own wares to sell in it too.
Amber Isle shares a fair bit in common with any one of the many, many farming/life sims we’ve had pop up in the last couple of years. Think Wylde Flowers, Fae Farm, or Paleo Pines (it even has dinosaurs!). But there’s a big difference. There’s no farm to tend to on Amber Isle — and honestly, it’s quite a relief not to have inherited a run-down scrap of land from some distant, long-lost relative. You will have tools though, and by digging, cutting wood, mining rocks or cultivating crops, you’ll gather materials that can be used to craft a range of wares to sell in your shop.
Your offerings are pretty paltry to begin with. A basic stool, a photo frame, a coat rack that looks to be little more than a stick. Still, the Amber Isle townsfolk will lap it up and as they buy your wares, you’ll not only begin to make new friends but you’ll earn experience that allows you to learn new crafting recipes. Eventually, there are dozens of recipes to learn, and you’ll be able to kit out your store with a veritable selection of handmade goods.
Crafting and selling is only part of the fun of Amber Isle, though. You’re free to explore the island — and you’ll need to regularly, in order to keep your store of materials stocked up. You’ll find only a small part of the island is accessible to begin with; over time, you’ll repair bridges and shift rubble in order to open up new pathways, giving you more areas to explore. The more parts of Amber Isle you fix up, the more visitors will flock to the island, too.
You can make friends with many of those visitors — and the island’s residents. You’ll be able to hang out with them outside of the shop and when you’re working, you’ll find yourself bartering with them when they’re considering buying your wares.
Sometimes they’ll pay the set price outright, but other times they may try and haggle. You’ll need to keep your wits about you when it comes to counter-offering; set the price too high and they might not appreciate it. Let them walk away with a bargain, however, and you’ll find your friendship rating soaring.
Watch the launch trailer of Amber Isle below:
I might be making Amber Isle sound a bit like busywork, but it really isn’t. Even when you’re busy at work in your shop, it’s a joy seeing your items get snatched up and flying off the shelves. Haggling is fun, too, and keeping your customers happy is strangely satisfying.
It helps that it all looks so adorable. The creatures inhabiting the island are all beautifully designed and filled with so much character. And Amber Isle itself is a colourful playground that you’ll absolutely want to explore every nook and cranny of.
Fancy a bit of prehistoric shop simulator action yourself? Amber Isle is available from today on PC, priced at £24.99 on Steam. If you’re a fan of cute and cosy life sim games and you aren’t afraid of a spot of shop management, this is well worth checking out.