The Island: Castaway

Game Description: There was a shipwreck. After being washed ashore, you wake up to find yourself stranded on a deserted tropical island with four other castaways. You must now learn how to start a fire, collect food, and catch fish. Can you and your fellow castaways survive? Find out now as you play The Island: Castaway.

How to Play The Island: Castaway To play The Island: Castaway you only click with your left mouse button. You will not use your keyboard, or any other controls. Then, follow the in-game instructions. Here, in this section, I will cover some of the basics to help you get started. The rest, you will have fun figuring out on your own. There will also be a surprise, or two, along the way!

• Once the game fully loads, click the 'Play' button to begin.
• After the shipwreck you wake up on a deserted tropical island with four other castaways.
• Your fellow castaways are: John, the linguist and specialist in dead languages; Nick, a sailor who can cook; Mike, a Native American; and Nicole, a pediatrician.
• Your character's name is Tom. He is the only character that you control in the game (meaning that you can make him walk or run).
• To make Tom walk or run, simply click with your left mouse button on the area where you wish Tom to go and he will do so, if he possibly can.
• Almost all, if not all, of the chores and work on the island are done by Tom (that means you!) The other island castaways will do little, if any, physical work. (I think we may all know a few people like that in real life! lol.) Everything is left up to Tom .(Again, that means you!)
• There are many items to collect on the island, such as pearls and fruit. To pick up an item, move your mouse pointer over the item and it will change into a yellow hand. Now simply click the item, and Tom will run over there and pick it up.
• The items you collect, except for pearls which are stored at the upper left corner of the game screen, are stored in your Inventory. (To open up your Inventory, click the sack like object at the lower left corner of the game screen).
• Even though your fellow castaways refuse do very little physical work, if any, (heck, they won't even pick up a coconut if it is laying right by their feet), they do play a very important part in this game. They will give Tom certain tasks that he must carry out. (When a castaway wants to give Tom a message, you will see an exclamation point above their head. Use your mouse and click the character, to find out what they have to say).
• Also, watch the area just below the 'Menu' button near the upper left corner. If a character needs to talk to Tom their picture will show up there. Very often you will need to find out what they have to say in order to progress any further in the game. So, if you are on a different part of the island you will need to go back and find that character. (Hint: Most of the time the other castaways will stay in only one position. After only a little bit of time, you will remember where each character hangs out. For instance, Nicole usually stays by the fire. However occasionally, depending on what is happening in the story, they may need to move to a different position).
• You can keep track of your tasks, in the Task List space at the bottom of the game screen.
• This is the free demo version of The Island: Castaway, and not the full paid version. Unfortunately with the free version there is no way, as far as I can tell, to save your game progress. So, be prepared to spend some time playing. Plan to spend about an hour.

The Island: Castaway Game Options The game options may be accessed first by clicking the 'Menu' button located towards the upper left corner. Once you open up the menu, click the 'Options' button. After you make your changes click the 'Done' button. Then, click the 'Continue' button to resume your game. Here are the available game options:

• The music volume may be adjusted.
• The sound volume may be adjusted.
• All game sounds may be muted or unmuted.

The Island: Castaway Playing Tips

• Tom needs to eat to keep his energy up as he does all that running around. You can keep track of Tom's energy level by watching the red bar at the top of the screen, just to the right of the red heart. To feed Tom, open your Inventory where the items you collect are stored. (Click what looks like a large sack at the lower left corner of the game screen to open your Inventory). Then, double-click the item you want Tom to eat.
• Feed Tom cooked items, such as cooked fish, to give him even more energy. (Remember, to cook food you need to be right next to the fire which is on the Western Beach).
• Your Inventory only has limited room to store things. Each individual box can only hold up to 20 items of each type of object. If you need specific items in your Inventory to complete a task, and your Inventory has no more room, you will need to delete some items in your Inventory that you currently do not need. You do this by dragging them to the trash bin at the lower right side of the Inventroy box. You do not need to get rid of only one inventory item at a time. If you wish to delete more than one inventroy item, perhaps an entire group, you can. After you drag the item to the trash bin, you can use the little arrows until you see the number you wish to delete. Then, click the 'Ok' button.
• Generally it is a good idea to pick up lots of items as you go along, because you can easily delete any items you no longer need, or don't need at the moment. (If you pick up lots of items as you go, often you will already have the items in your Inventory when a character asks for them).
• There are three main sections to the island: Western Beach, Central Beach, and Eastern Beach. You will very quickly learn to recognize each one. You can also use the island map in the upper right corner, to see where you are.
• Tom can wade through, and cross, shallow water (the light blue colored water). That is how you get from one main section of the island to another. He cannot cross deep water (the dark blue water) while walking or running.

Richard's Rating: 5 out of 5.

Pro: With first-rate graphics and realistic sounds (I love it for instance when Tom sloshes through the water or digs with his shovel), The Island: Castaway will keep you engaged, if not intrigued, with it's marvelous storyline and plot twists. Though certainly not great literature, the storyline always kept me interested and guessing what would happen next. I never felt bored, even when I had trouble catching my first fish. (Thank goodness those crabs are easy to trap. I wouldn't want poor Tom to starve!). One of the best things about The Island: Castaway is how user-friendly it really is. Anytime you get stuck the game seems to sense it, and will help you along. (For example, if you need to cook some food and you are not standing close enough to the fire, the game will tell you to get closer to the fire). I thoroughly enjoyed my all too brief time playing The Island: Castaway and I definitely give this game an enthusiastic big thumbs up!

Con:

• It is unfortunate that with the free demo version (which, of course, is the version that I have here for you) that there is no way apparently to save your game progress. I realize that the people who make these games want to make sales, so they sometimes purposely make the free versions inconvenient to use.
• Even though this is only the free demo version, I would have liked to have played a little bit more. Things were just getting interesting!

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