Summer Islands

The game is a nice throwback to holiday island and the developers did their best to improve on that game with the advanced land leveling tools and the added complexity of the clusters. The cluster system takes some time getting used to because it's split between luxery and mass tourism and sometimes a bit counter intuitive. For example hotels like the proximity of car rentals? However the game has a huge performance problem. As you pass the 5000-6000 tourists, it's starting to lag terribly to the point of becoming unplayable. I don't care much for frame rates but it's getting hard to move the mouse and the simulation is slowing down, making it take forever to build new things. This is inexcusable. The game isn't simulating agents, it's not taking into account inflation or complicated economics, there are no 3d graphics... what is it even processing? Holiday island could handle more than 6000 tourists and it ran on a 60MHz CPU with 2MB of RAM! (granted it took some time to do the year end accounting) This game, considering it's graphics and dept of simulation, should be able to run fluently with millions of tourists on any hardware. It seems to be some kind of build up and the developer have pointed out that saving and reloading the game resets the lag and this indeed works for about an hour.

Kenne es noch als Holiday Islands Da werden wieder Erinnerungen wach, als die Spiele noch unter DOS gelaufen sind und man stolz auf seine 40MB Festplatte war und den 486er. Die autoexec.bat und config.sys bearbeitet hat. Schlicht und einfach, ohne diesen Grafik Hype waren die Spiele damals, hatten dafür aber noch Herz und eine Seele.

Holiday Island aus den 80igern Jahren in die heutige Zeit geholt. Also wer Holiday Island gerne gespielt hat wird dieses Spiel erst recht lieben.

I do like this game but the performance is so bad that it ruins my fun in hunting the achievements i have 100k tourists and it´s just unplayable.

nostalgia at its finest

Summer Islands is a fun holiday island business simulation game that offers lots of room for creativity. The game can be best described as city-builder x business hybrid, but it definitely leans more towards the business sim end of the spectrum. You do have utilities and transportation facilities, but the vast majority of the content is built around developing a holiday resort. I do wish the city-builder side was explored just a bit more. For example some generic residential buildings to provide for all the employees on the island. I personally love the graphics, but I am biased since I started gaming in the 90s. I never played Holiday Island, the inspiration for this game, but as a fan of business sims (and city-builders) the gameplay was very engaging.

Summer Islands is a warm, methodical resort-building game that channels the spirit of classic tycoon titles while layering in modern sandbox flexibility. Developed and published by Marttalin Games, it invites players to transform humble tropical atolls into bustling holiday destinations through careful planning, economic foresight, and a steady eye on the needs of tourists. From the first moments, the game communicates its priorities clearly: growth is earned through smart infrastructure, thoughtful zoning, and a willingness to adapt when paradise doesn’t quite go according to plan. The core loop revolves around balancing attraction and sustainability. You place beaches, hotels, restaurants, utilities, and transport links to entice visitors while keeping operating costs under control. Coverage areas and proximity matter, nudging players to think in systems rather than isolated buildings. Early decisions feel consequential—choosing where to develop first, how much to spend on terraforming, and which amenities to prioritize can define the pace of the entire run. As tourists arrive, revenue begins to flow, but the game resists becoming a passive money printer; maintenance, upgrades, and unexpected events like tropical storms ensure that expansion always carries risk alongside reward. A defining strength of Summer Islands is its nostalgic presentation. The isometric, pixel-forward art style recalls early city builders and resort sims, delivering clarity and charm without sacrificing readability at scale. The visual language makes it easy to parse density, coverage, and traffic, which is essential as islands grow complex. Animations are modest but effective, and the aesthetic keeps performance smooth even as maps fill with activity. This retro sensibility pairs well with the game’s calm pacing, making long planning sessions feel inviting rather than overwhelming. Depth emerges through layered economics and progression. Early play is about survival—finding flat land to save costs, establishing utilities, and ensuring tourists can move efficiently between attractions. Over time, unlocks broaden your toolkit, allowing more specialized buildings and ambitious layouts. The arc from scrappy beginnings to a thriving resort empire is satisfying, though players seeking relentless pressure may find the mid-to-late game gentler once revenue stabilizes. For many, that easing of tension is a feature rather than a flaw, transforming the experience into a creative sandbox where optimization gives way to expression. Procedural generation adds significant replayability. Islands can be small and focused or sprawling archipelagos with varied terrain, encouraging different strategies from run to run. Sandbox options let players tailor difficulty and scope, while a campaign mode provides structured goals for those who prefer guided challenges. Community features, including Workshop support, extend longevity by enabling custom maps and scenarios, and cooperative multiplayer allows friends to collaborate on shared builds—splitting responsibilities and decisions in a way that feels natural for a management sim. The interface and tooling are functional, if occasionally rough around the edges. Some menus feel utilitarian rather than elegant, and there can be moments where information density asks for an extra click or two. These hiccups rarely derail play, and frequent updates and visible developer engagement have steadily improved polish. Importantly, the game communicates its systems clearly enough that experimentation is encouraged; when something doesn’t work, the reasons are usually understandable, making iteration part of the fun. Atmospherically, Summer Islands strikes a pleasant balance between relaxed and purposeful. The soundtrack and ambient cues support long sessions without demanding attention, while visual feedback—busy beaches, flowing traffic, steady income—reinforces progress. Disasters and downturns punctuate this calm, reminding players that even paradise requires planning and contingency, but the tone never turns punitive. In sum, Summer Islands succeeds by respecting the fundamentals of classic resort sims while offering modern flexibility and community-driven longevity. It may not chase spectacle or hyper-complex micromanagement, but it excels at delivering a thoughtful, rewarding build-and-grow experience where every island tells a slightly different story. For fans of management games who value clarity, creative freedom, and the slow satisfaction of watching a plan come together, it’s an inviting return to a genre that thrives on patience and imagination. Rating: 7/10

Was habe ich Holiday Island geliebt ende de 90er. Summer Islands bringt dieses Gefühl zurück und macht sogar manches Besser. Das Balancing mit dem Geld funktioniert hier deutlich besser als im Original und auch das Erforschen neuer Gebäude motiviert. Anfang zunächst (2026) keine Kaufempfehlung, da insbesondere die Performance sehr schlecht war. Stand Januar 2026 Schnelle und nette Reaktion des Entwicklers. So wünscht man sich das! Klasse! Endlich wieder enspannt ab auf die Insel wie 1996!