Starsand Island has characters from Sandrock

Life simulation game Starsand Island is currently in Early Access on Steam and Xbox. The full version should be released for Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S in summer 2026.

Starsand Island has familiar characters from the My Time-series, both Sandrock and Portia. 

But for them to arrive you first have to fix the transit system. You need to repair the train station, and make the train tracks operational.

 

Visitors From Portia and Sandrock

First to arrive, in summer 23, are Gust and Ginger from My Time at Portia. 

 

 

Fang, X and Nia from My Time at Sandrock arrive in autumn 1.

 

 

My Time at Sandrock: Captain the cat

A cat who is a police officer, and an integral part of a game's main story?

Captain is the third cat in My Time at Sandrock, and unlike the other two he can't be adopted by the player. Captain is a valued member of the Civil Corps, alongside with bachelors Justice and Unsuur. 

 

 

In the main story mission Belly of the Beast, Captain arrives to the scene in the nick of time, and saves the day. Thanks to him pushing the button of a giant fan, most enemy Geeglers are blown away.

 

In the side mission Who's the Deputy the player is given the task of making a hat, a Deputy Cap for Sandrock's new deputy.

But little did I know that I was in fact making a tiny hat, suitable for a cat...

 

Justice: Nevertheless, there is still one who stands out among the rest... One whose tireless dedication to law and order has earned them the right to call themselves... Deputy of the Sandrock Civil Corps!

Our next deputy is known not for brute strength, but nimbleness! And wisdom!

Our deputy brings a uniqueness to the team, and fills in the gaps in our Corps skillset with raw, individual talent.

...With flowing black hair that shimmers in the sunlight as they dish out hearty, heaping helpings of justice with elegance and finesse!

Let's give it up for our next deputy: Captain Caaaaat!

Mi-an: What the? The cat!?

 

 

Justice: Yes, Captain, or should I say, Deputy Captain has not only been diligent in patrol work, but this year's mice incidents have fallen to an all-time low, yes, there really is no question that Captain is the most deserving of this title.

 

 

So at this point of the story Captain becomes Deputy Captain, and he's proudly showing off his new hat around town.

 

 

When a certain character is kidnapped, Captain is the one to trace the kidnapper and their victim. What is used as a tracking device? Catnip...

 

 

Later in the story Captain is Rat Queen's greatest fear and enemy, she even calls him The Beast. 

 

 

After completing the main story the player receives a medal, Civil Corps Medal of Honor⁠. When given the option for a speech, I of course chose to thank Captain. Later I found out that if you keep choosing the options, Captain gets impatient and annoyed...

 

 

My Time at Sandrock (affiliate link) is easily one of my all time favorite games. It has everything: romance, humor, action, and lots to play. Not to mention all the cats, and other animals. In my opinion Sandrock is near perfection, and I can't get enough of it.

 

 

Wolves in God of War: Ragnarök

As far as I can tell there are no cats in God of War Ragnarök (affiliate link), but I did manage to take a lot of screenshots of the gorgeous wolf in the game.

Or the wolves.

God of War Ragnarök is a sequel to highly acclaimed God of War (2018). In Raknarök, teenaged Atreus rebels against his father Kratos, and makes stupid decisions.

Spoiler alert: Early in the game there's a heartbreaking scene when Atreus loses his beloved old friend, Fenrir. 

 

 

Then there are the pet wolves who pull the sled, Svanna and Speki.

Later in the game Atreus encounters a huge imprisoned wolf, Garm. In his stupidity Atreus decides to free him.

 

 

Big mistake. Then Atreus and Kratos have to fight against him.

But in the end... they do become friends. All is forgiven and forgotten?

Until Dawn Remake game review (PS5): Zero stars

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

 

Let's face it: It isn't an Until Dawn game if it doesn't have the legendary O' Death song, and this remake has replaced the intro music. They are butchering the classics, as Homer Simpson famously said. And what is the point of making this remake? It's totally unnecessary.

A group of teenagers go back to the lodge where something terrible happened a year ago. A good idea? Surely. Will they survive... until dawn?

 

 

The Animals of Until Dawn 

But the game does have many animals. 

 

 

The player has the option to even hurt animals (a squirrel and birds), but IF you want these human characters to survive the night, it might be better to not to do that. 

 

 

I returned to this game after a long pause, and then the first thing I encountered was a badly hurt deer. The options were to either kill it or comfort it. Either way it's not possible to save it, you can only watch it suffer and die. I won't put a screencap of that of course.

 

 

Until Dawn: Wolf

A part of Mike's story is a wolf. Mike first encounters this wolf in chapter 5.

 

 

There's even a trophy for saving the wolf, called The Skillful Wolf Man: Mike kept the wolf alive throughout the Sanatorium. 

 

 

It starts with a simple thing: Do not kick the wolf. 

 

 

Then give the good boy a bone.

 

 

 

 

Until Dawn Remake gameplay (PS5)

 

 

 

By the way, men worry me.

 

 

Until Dawn Remake is currently free to play on Playstation Plus Extra.

 

As Dusk Falls: Can the dog die?

As Dusk Falls tells a story of a crime gone wrong, and about a family that gets caught in the middle of the unfortunate mayhem. 

The family has a dog named Zeus.  

 

 

Early on you have to try to calm the dog, while criminals threaten you.  

 

 

The good news is that no matter which option you choose, the dog can not die. In fact the dog is still alive at the game's end, 14 years later. Quite long life for a dog?

 

There's also another dog in the game if you play it a certain way as Jay...

 

Cat in As Dusk Falls 

I was really surprised when in the 5th episode of the game a cat made an appearance.

 

 

 

Paul has a cat named Marlon, living with him in his trailer. 

 

 

 

If Paul chooses to escape with Sharon, he does take the cat with them. So luckily no cat is left behind!

 

 

 

 

As Dusk Falls (affiliate link) is currently free to play on Playstation Plus Extra.

 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure: Beginner's Guide

Hello Kitty Island Adventure (affliate link) is a life simulation game which takes place on a vacation island inhabited by Sanrio characters. The game became available for PS5 in August 2025, and I loaned it from the library.

 

I didn't know any other of Sanrio characters besides Hello Kitty prior to playing this game. But now I got to know them and fell in love with them, especially Cinnamoroll and Keroppi.

 

 

This game is designed to be played every day for a very long time, and not much at a time. It is limited how much you can advance in the game daily. Hello Kitty Island Adventure isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. You need patience to play this. 

 

 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a game aimed for children. At first I thought that there's isn't much to do, but I was wrong. It is a long game, it can take a year to play through. 

 

 

Tips and tricks 

In this blog post I have gathered some things I wish I knew when I started playing this game.

All the story progression revolves around advancing friendships, and that is done by giving gifts. By default you can gift a character three times a day. It is essential to give everyone the best possible gift.

 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure Gift Guide

To get the most out of the game the progress in friendships is crucial. So I strongly recommend you to check out these gift guides. 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure gift guide

3 heart gift guide in Google Doc 

 

 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure Companion Guide

Once unlocked, keep a companion friend with you at all times, they will help you with their abilities.

When you give gifts keep Hello Kitty as your companion to gain extra friendship progress. Also keep her as your companion when you are making any food items to get extra ones.

When you have made best friend status with someone and gift them, keep Miss Melody with you to get extra items. Which characters' items you still need even after that? In my experience at least Chococat's and Kuromi's. When repairing cabins Miss Melody reduces the cost of strawberry crates, but only when opening new cabins. 

Keep Chococat with you when you are crafting items to get extra ones. 

Keep Keroppi as a companion when you are catching critters to slow them down and to make them less spooked. 

Pochacco makes you move faster, so he makes collecting items take less time.

And late game, Big Challenge's vacuum ability makes looting items a lot easier. 

 

 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure Visitor Cabins

You should start decorating visitors cabins as soon as you can. I waited too long before I realized I should be doing that. It can be confusing which items every visitor requires in their cabin. Once again wiki is your best friend (pun intended).

How to put clothes on visitor cabins? I had problems with that. First you have to craft a mannequin and place that in the cabin. Then you can put clothing items on the mannequin. 

 

 

Hello Kitty Island Adventure Critters 

Keroppi became my favorite character, but I hated his Best friend quest. A supposed critter friend wants to make furniture out of them?! How cruel and unethical, and makes zero sense. Of course critters want to spend an eternity suffering as furniture.

 

 

How to get iron in Hello Kitty

At one point in the game I absolutely ran out of iron. The best way to grind iron is Gem match mini game. It's located right next to Dance hall in Gemstone town. When you match a pair you might get iron. I got 90 iron in minutes.

 

 

South Park vs. Hello Kitty

In 2006 a South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" featured a game named Hello Kitty Island Adventure. At that time that game did not exist. In 2023 the game became a reality. Choosing this name for their game earned a lot of points from South Park fans for Sanrio.

 

 

 

I must admit that as an adult I enjoyed Disney Dreamlight Valley more than adventures on Hello Kitty's vacation island.