Available worldwide, Eden Isle: Resort Paradise is a quirky game for iPhone and iPad that lets players build and manage a holiday resort. Work towards making a five-star vacation spot, while catering to guests ranging from out-of-touch indie rock stars, to wacky inventors, to reality show producers, each with their own backstory. Developed by Dublin-based game studio Simteractive, it’s the first game of its kind developed in Ireland.
Eden Isle offers a new take on the management sim genre. Players can enjoy compelling resource management gameplay but also get to know their guests. This is done by offering the player more than 200 bite-sized stories presented by the guests of the resort, requiring action by the player to improve the resort and to help the guests have a good time. Unusual wedding proposals, time travel attempts, philosophical pondering, expressing an unnatural love of gnomes and getting ahead of the B.P.G. (Butterfly Protection Group) are just some of the antics your guests will get up to on Eden Isle.
The player starts with a small patch of land on a tropical island and builds some Eco-Friendly Tents and a Huggable Tree. This attracts Treehuggers, the first guest type, to the resort. As the player progresses they can attract more guest types – Glampers, Hipsters, Fashionistas, Selfie-Lovers and Backpackers. Each guest type has their own requirements, preferences and personality, showcased by vivid character animations. Glampers (fans of glamorous camping) will visit once you have an Outdoor Experience Centre, an activity that lets them experience the joys of the outdoors from the comfort of being indoors. Hipsters want a Beard Artistry Centre and an Un-Hotel (regular hotels are just too mainstream).
One of the features that makes Eden Isle stand out from other games in the genre is the ability to track every single guest in the resort and to monitor their individual needs and happiness levels. Guests have five different needs – hunger, thirst, rest, shopping and fun, which are fulfilled by the different types of building in the game. Although the intuitive controls and elegant path editing system allow anyone to easily pick up and play the game, players who want more depth can tweak business prices and quality levels and create an optimal resort layout to maximise profits and guest happiness.
The game has a beautiful and unique art style. On developing the art style, lead artist Cloud Bai said “I started to draw and paint the structures and lovely details by hand, brush by brush, softly and smoothly. I hope people who play will love the game and enjoy the sunshine and relaxation, without the worries of everyday life”. Creative director Elaine Reynolds said “I grew up playing games like SimCity, Theme Park and Theme Hospital and I was lucky to work alongside the creators of some of my favourite games when I worked at Lionhead. As a lifelong sim game fanatic, creating a sim game has long been a dream of mine so I’m delighted to release Eden Isle worldwide.“