
The mayor of the town helps you out by providing you a place to stay, but you will need to help out with various things on the island, of course. When you start your game, you will be a mysterious character covered in seaweed who has washed up on the shore of this island. Just like AC, the dialogue is filled with jokes, humor, and charm. The soundtrack is calming and relaxing, and the sound effects are fun. It’s all rendered in 3-D, and has smooth animations as you move around and explore or do various activities. It’s not exactly like AC, as the characters are a bit more blocky, but the island is colorful, vibrant, and lush, which makes the game feel welcoming. The visuals in Castaway Paradise are beautiful and look great on the Retina HD screen of my iPhone 6.

Fortunately, Castaway Paradise is a nice replacement for the time being, and a great way for someone who has never played an AC game before to get a taste of what it is like - a gateway game, perhaps?

I’m still afraid to check on my game now, but I miss it. This is probably because I was afraid to find out which villager moved out, and then the chance for another to leave when I don’t check-in to the game again. Then, by some kind of miracle, I was able to put my game down at some point last year, and I’ve never picked it up since. It was an unhealthy obsession I tell you! I don’t know why I loved it either - I became attached to my village of cute animals, and I was always seeking my “dream town,” with rare or hard-to-get animal villagers. I say mistake because it sucked up hours of my time, and I became obsessed with checking on my village in regular intervals throughout the day, that is, if I wasn’t just on the game for half the day. Last year, I made the mistake of getting ACNL.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out Animal Crossing: New Leaf yet, then Castaway Paradise is a nice substitute for the real thing. Castaway Paradise (Free) by Stolen Couch Games is like having Animal Crossing on your iPhone and iPad.
