Coral Island: What We Can Learn About Character Design from the Hit Indie Game
I’ve been obsessed with the farming sim video game Coral Island for the last couple of weeks. This hit game is known for a highly successful Kickstarter campaign in 2021 (over $1.6 million!) and charming, Disney-styled illustrations alongside eco-conscious themes. And, of course, as an illustrator, I loved the delightful character designs and stories!
Characters In Coral Island: Bringing the World to Life
While all farm sims have a friendship aspect, and most have romance/marriage options, Coral Island does a great job of integrating these relationships into the player’s experience. There are some expected outcomes of befriending the locals, such as unlocking cut scenes and recipes. But there’s also a fun feature where you can ask certain townies to hang out with you. These outings include everything from a friendly picnic on the beach, game of pool at the tavern, or soak in the hot springs to romantic dinners and dancing once you’ve chosen your special someone.
This feature allowed me to engage with Coral Island's less money-driven aspects in a novel way. Where I would ordinarily ignore a hot spring dip in favour of a “productive” activity, like mining or fishing, the ability to bring a friend or romantic partner encouraged me to use all the town's facilities.
I also appreciated the decent amount of dialogue options you can elicit from each character. Like every farming sim game, there is eventually a limit to new phrases from characters. But I appreciated that in Coral Island, events like festivals, your wedding or the birth of your child encouraged unique dialogue. It was fun to run around town receiving congratulations on my wedding, and it made it feel like I was really part of this tight, fictitious community.
Illustrations and Avatars as Art Form
Hands down my favourite feature of Coral Island is the marvelous artwork. This includes the illustrations of characters that appear beside their dialogue boxes: dynamic and colourful illustrations with an animation/Disney flare. But it also includes the adorable little avatars of everyone that run around the world - animals included! From the wiggly necks of the chickens to the serene smile of the pet lizard, everything in Coral Island is cute and adds a lot to the game's enjoyment.
Adding characters, flora and fauna I’ve never seen in other farming sims makes Coral Island a stand-out game. My coop includes quails and peacocks, while my barn has llamas and lewak. The studio that created Coral Island, Stairway Games, is based in Indonesia and it’s wonderful to see the influence in character and setting design all over Coral Island.
The 3 Takeaways for Character Illustration
So what can we learn from the wonderful character design in Coral Island? Here are my three top takeaways:
Even in a world of increasingly realistic games, illustrated games can still succeed and become known for their art! If you are worried you must be a 3D modeler to work in games, Coral Island proves that’s not universally true.
Illustration can be used to add novelty to a familiar trope. Farm sims are popular, and the god of all farm sims, Stardew Valley, is pretty hard to compete with. But Coral Island distinguishes itself with a new artistic take (Stardew Valley uses pixel art)and cultural influence, building a cohesive identity.
A diverse cast of characters can build an immersive world for players. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the inhabitants of Starlet Town (the town in the game). Throughout playing, you’ll find out who is related, who is divorced, who has kids, and whose graves mark the cemetery. The world feels whole and complete because of the attention to detail with the characters, including the diversity of design and culture amongst them all. From Lily’s bonsai garden to Sunny and Eleanor having an adopted child, each character brings something exciting to the town.
