Since the evening of Valentine’s Day (tragically heartbroken that I couldn’t spend it with my love as HyVee’s work schedule had maliciously tore us apart), I’ve been playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Yes, I am eighteen years old and playing a Hello Kitty game. Yes, there are better things I could be doing. Yes, I had to ask my siblings for twenty bucks to afford this game because they kept talking about it, and I was jealous of them (the basic game is forty dollars, and I’m very broke). BUT, I’ve been having fun. So that makes it okay, right?

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Resident HKIA expert (Javier Davila-Gay)

Hello Kitty Island Adventure (HKIA) was released on July 28th, 2023, as a mobile game for Apple Arcade. On January 30th, 2025, the game was ported to the Nintendo Switch and PC. Versions for PlayStation 4 and 5 are set to be released later this year. Reviews for this game appear to be mostly positive with a 93% positive rating on Steam and a 95% on Google. Imagine Games Network (IGN) gave the game a harsher 6/10 rating, stating that it is “better off as a mobile game.” 

Most negative reviews of Island Adventure piggyback off IGN’s statement, with many complaints surfacing about the limitations placed on progression. Particularly, the time-based limits of progression. Progression in many fields of HKIA is limited to one day. Aspects of story progression in HKIA are based on increasing friendship with the main cast of characters. The modes of increasing friendship are completing quests and giving gifts, the latter being the most emphasized/effective. However, you can only give three gifts to a character per day. Furthermore, materials will only spawn once per day; while they are abundant, they’re still limited. So in sum, there’s pretty much a certain point in each day where you will have completed everything you can do and you’ll have to leave and come back tomorrow to continue to progress—unless you want to sit for hours at a fishing spot or scavenging for bugs to get your fix. Many reviewers tag this as nothing more than a cheap mobile game tactic to keep players coming back. The issue for many is furthered by the fact that you cannot “time skip.” Time skipping is a method of advancing in-game time (typically by setting the console clock ahead in date and/or time) as a means of overcoming barred time-restricted actions. If you attempt to time skip in HKIA, multiplayer will be deactivated, time-based functions (like materials spawning) will cease to happen, and there is “nothing [that can be done] to restore a save file once it is in this state,” as the game itself warns players soon after booting. 

I somewhat understand these frustrations but am mostly unaffected by them. I am more concerned by what all these complaints suggest. Let me explain. I acknowledge wanting the ability to play a game to its end in one sitting, if you please. But, there are millions of those kinds of games out there. Not every game has to have every mechanic of every other game. That’s what gives us variety. Also, HKIA is a life sim game. What is more life-like than just having to wait sometimes? Furthermore, I ask, would the game be more fun if you just got to smother each character with gifts until the story progressed? Would you get more enjoyment by sitting down and binging the game in one sitting? I think the time-based mechanics make the game more digestible and life-like, reducing the quickness that gamers will be burnt out on the game, or come to the end and have nothing more to do. Also, there are items in the game (friendship blossoms) that allow you to reset the cooldown for gifting a character (allowing you to give them 3 more gifts). While I have had a ton of fun playing this game so far and just want to keep playing it to my heart’s desire, I want even more for the enjoyment to last. The game forcing me to stop is admittedly for the best. So, about my concern: what worries me about these reviews is people’s deep frustration with just having to wait. What does this say about our society as a whole? Are we losing the ability to be patient? Are we prioritizing instant gratification too much? Perhaps it’s not that deep, but it’s worthy food for thought nonetheless.

Some other issues people have complained about have been glitches. Unfortunately, they are to be expected but are annoying and disappointing nonetheless. In my own playthrough, I have seen bugs and fish clipping through the ground, beetles spawning underwater, and many characters glitching (more clipping through the ground/walls, freaking out and shaking on certain geometry, etc). With a game that has been out for a while (admittedly longer on mobile, not sure exactly how smooth the cross-platform transition is), it’s disappointing to see these. Honestly, games shouldn’t be released with glitches at all but it’s an unfortunate reality that we’re faced with these days. I understand that getting every single bug and kink out takes a lot of play-testing, but for a Tiple-A game, a certain quality upon release is rightfully expected. With all this said, the glitches I have experienced are by no means game-breaking. After experiencing the early release state of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach (a glitchy, unplayable mess), I can say that this HKIA is nowhere near that game at its release. While certainly immersion-breaking, the glitches (that I have experienced) in HKIA are definitely not game-breaking.

Many players have predictably compared Hello Kitty Island Adventure to Animal Crossing, specifically the latest installment in the series, New Horizons. I have clocked in a solid 670 hours in New Horizons, and can, of course, see the similarities. In the same fashion that many Animal Crossing games have begun, Island Adventure begins with you in transit. After getting your bearings, a character walks up to you and asks you about your appearance. Although you set your appearance before boarding the plane in Animal Crossing New Horizons (where you set your appearance on the plane in Hello Kitty), both games have you riding a plane to a deserted island. In Hello Kitty, however, the island was previously populated and is the same for each and every player (in contrast to Animal Crossing’s recurring mechanic of randomly generating terrain for each player’s town). I have seen some complaints about the predecided island in HKIA, with many players wanting a random island like in Animal Crossing, but I don’t mind Hello Kitty’s predetermined island. The island in HKIA is massive, filled to the brim with decorations and things to do. There are more activities on this island than there are in Animal Crossing, and a wider variety to boot. In Animal Crossing I felt like most activities revolved around decorating, whereas in Hello Kitty there are “dungeons,” mini-games, quests, etc. Of course, I do love Animal Crossing, but I do not like the comparisons made between the two to criticize HKIA.

At time of post, I have 31.3 hours logged on Hello Kitty Island Adventure. If you are a fan of life simulators (Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, etc), are a Sanrio/Hello Kitty fan, or are just in need of a cute and chill game, I one hundred percent recommend this game for you. This game is truly a charming experience that will give you a dopamine rush with each completed task or friendship made. So, if you ask me what game I’m playing on my computer for the next few months, no it is not World of Warcraft- It’s Hello Kitty Island Adventure.