For many cozy gamers, the original Harvest Moon games were a formative farming sim experience. And while the original team behind these games continues to put out new Story of Seasons games, many of the recent titles have been remakes rather than anything brand-new. Today, a highly anticipated and somewhat controversial Harvest Moon lookalike with a familiar-sounding name had its worldwide multi-platform launch. For those looking for a fresh story with Harvest Moon vibes, Sugardew Island has been one to watch. And gamers can try it out completely for free.
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Sugardew Island is a brand-new 3D cozy game with a shopkeeping spin. Gamers will spend plenty of time caring for crops, but rather than simply drop them in a shipping box, they’ll run their own shop and sell straight to customers. Since it was officially announced at the end of 2024, Sugardew Island has attracted a good bit of attention from cozy gamers. Many were excited to see the shopkeeping and farming sim combo with cozy, Harvest Moon-style graphics. However, the game drew some negative attention for its name’s similarity to Stardew Valley, alongside those very-familiar animal assets that look a little bit too much like the iconic Harvest Moon cows. With all that buzz, many have had their eyes on Sugardew Island.
Gamers can try out this new farming sim for themselves with the free demo, which is still available on Steam. Developer Rokaplay shared that they’ll be keeping their demo up so that gamers can try out the game before they buy. Many games remove their demos when the full release arrives, making it harder for fans to see what they’re getting. But with Sugardew Valley, that’s not the case. The demo will remain available on Steam alongside the full version of the game, which is priced at $16.99, with an introductory sale bringing it temporarily below $15 until March 21st.
What’s Different in the Sugardew Island Demo vs. Full Game?
As nice as demos can be, not every gamer likes the trial experience. It’s often unclear how long a demo will be or which features are missing compared with the full game. Luckily, Rokaplay is happy to break down everything gamers need to know about the differences between the Sugardew Island demo and full version of the game. First, and most importantly, demo progress does carry over. So, if you try out Sugardew Island for free, you won’t have to start over if you decide it’s worth buying the full version. Importantly, this only applies for Steam, as the demo is not available on consoles.
The demo also includes every feature available in the full game. Rather than limiting specific in-game options, the Sugardew Island demo offers the full gameplay loop up through your first week on the island. That’s seven days of planting crops, befriending animals, and collecting Sugardew to heal the island by selling crops to locals. This should be just enough free gameplay to let Harvest Moon fans decide if Sugardew Island is their new go-to cozy farming game.
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Part of the reason developers want to let gamers try before they buy is that Sugardew Island has received some mixed feedback from early reviews and play tests. The game is “designed for fans of Harvest Moon DS” and is billed as a “relaxed farm-shop game.” This description is code for the game being a lot more straightforward and scaled back compared to more complicated modern farming sims like Stardew Valley or Fields of Mistria. That has led many gamers to be disappointed with their initial experience, but having the demo available alleviates those fears. With the ability to experience the first in-game week for free, gamers have nothing to fear from checking out Sugardew Island on Steam.
Sugardew Island launched on March 7th via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4 & PS4, and Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The demo is available only via Steam.
Are you planning to try out the free demo for Sugardew Island? Let us know in the comments below!
