Sometimes it just makes sense to transform a linear game into an open world. Whether that’s Ring of Fire Or Breath of the Wildmany franchises have found that their core gameplay loops lend themselves well to open-world versions. Ring of Fireyou can spread FromSoft’s intense difficulty across the entire map, which invites players to “git gud” at their own pace. Breath of the Wildthe entire world is now a dungeon, every hill and dale a mystery. Playing both feels like each franchise and its mechanics were just waiting to be spread across the huge map. They just feel right.
In contrast to this, Islands of the Sea and Skyopen world Sokoban game, isn’t such an obvious choice. But just because something isn’t immediately obvious doesn’t mean it won’t work.
The game from Cicada Games studio released at the end of May Islands of the Sea and Sky uses the aesthetics of Game Boy Color-era Zelda to achieve a genre mash-up that strikes equal parts harmony and dissonance. The game makes a great first impression. It evokes the feeling of playing Link’s Awakening DX (before the remake), to the point where one could be forgiven for mistaking one of the Islandsbeaches for Waking upMoving from screen to screen is a nostalgic joy, with soundtrack with a touch of Vocaloid which gives the game even more personality, which is good because at its core, open world or not, this is a Sokoban game, Sokoban style.
You’ll be pushing blocks Islands of the Sea and Sky. You push many, many standard blocks into standard holes, which allows you to cross those holes to push more blocks in. You also push things that aren’t blocks, like little boulder dudes (absolutely not Gorons) who roll as far as they can in the direction you push them, crushing any crates they come across. Or little water people who can extend rivers if you push them downstream. The puzzles start out plain, gradually introducing you to increasingly arduous gameplay, screen by screen, until you eventually reach an impasse. And while at an impasse, you find yourself in a situation where you have to deal with the inherent contradictions Islands‘a mixture of freedom and linearity.
Image: Cicada Games
One of the joys of Sokoban games is the underlying assumption that, while you may get frustrated by a single puzzle, you always have the necessary skills to get through the level. Each stage is simply a matter of thinking and working through the things you have and haven’t tried yet. You’re stuck, sure, but you’re not missing anything you need to reach the solution.
Not so in Islands of the Sea and Sky. At first, you will be presented with puzzles that you will not be able to complete until you unlock a fresh skill. While many games feature this type of lock and key design where you must first unlock a skill to access certain areas, this goes against the genre expectations for Sokoban games. Entering Islandsa player can reasonably expect that if they get stuck, they will simply have to try different solutions. This mentality will get you through similar games like Baba is that you Or Monster ExpeditionThere is a solution. You just have to persevere. However, in Islandsoften you have to move on, travel somewhere else on the game map and in the outside world. In miniature, you have to give up when you feel frustrated.
At first, I was paralyzed by this active. How do I know when I don’t understand a puzzle and when I don’t have the skills to solve it? When my frustration is an intended part of the solution and when it’s futile? To his immense credit, Islands goes out of its way to reduce some of that frustration by allowing the player to undo their actions step by step at any time, or reset the entire puzzle by pressing a button each time. But you can’t undo the time you put into the game. You can’t undo the minutes you spend banging your head against a wall, stubbornly trying to solve something you simply can’t solve. Coming across this, I asked myself why anyone would design a game this way if they had to know players would get stuck that way.
Then it hit me. They know players will get stuck this way.
Full disclosure: I can be a bit stubborn. I like to think of myself as a innovative problem solver, but my general approach is to stick with something until it’s done. That can be a good thing (persistence and all), but it can also be a problem (see my description above of banging my head against a wall). Traditional Sokoban titles are designed with this type of player in mind—someone like me who will spend hours trying different things until they figure something out. The folks at Cicada Games clearly love the genre, and it’s evident from the sheer number and variety of puzzles they’ve crammed into the game. IslandsBut what they clearly don’t like is the feeling of being trapped with no way out, of not being able to move on.
Not to quote a meme, but to quote a meme: Islands of the Sea and Sky is here to say “Just leave. You can leave!!!” What started out as frustration with the game for me turned into a bit of self-reflection as I stopped to consider why I felt the need to stay frustrated when at any moment I could have simply quit or, to quote a prominent philosopher of our generation, Dasarez0ne“Hit the bricks!!!” Sure, there are areas you can’t reach until you’ve completed at least a certain number of puzzles, but overall, you can completely leave most of the stuff behind that’s just too frustrating Islands and find something you’d rather do. The challenge, at least for me, was allowing myself to do it.
As I’ve argued, Sokoban games aren’t an obvious choice for an open-world experience. Their inherent linearity borders on a style of play best known for its variety and, well, openness. The concentration required of the player seems categorically different from the desired distraction of asking, “What’s over that hill?” Islands of the Sea and SkySpecifically, there is an immediate dissonance between how you expect to play a block-sliding puzzle game and how you should actually play it. This a puzzle game that involves moving blocks. But dissonance can turn into consonance, harmony and stability, and IslandsIn this case, you are pushed not only towards accepting limitations, but also towards a tendency to liberate yourself.
At first, it was demanding for me to see moving on as a viable strategy, because I had become so used to breaking through mental blocks, both in Sokoban and in life. But once I did, I discovered that this mentality transcends the game. Does persistence assist or hurt? Do I have to stay with this feeling? Why do I see moving on as giving up?
Ultimately, I was ecstatic to have played a game that inspired me to do this kind of self-reflection. Islands of the Sea and Sky challenged me to step back, reassess, and move on. Maybe it will do the same for you.
Islands of the Sea and Sky was released on May 22 for Windows PC. The game was tested using code provided by Cicada Games. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find more information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.
