Hello Kitty Island Adventure: A Sanrio ACNH

In 2020, Animal Crossing New Horizons gave everyone the cozy vacation they need from the world. With the release of Hello Kitty Island Adventure for the Nintend Switch, we all have a new, sunny, cozy fixation to whisk us away from our daily lives. With great thanks to Nintendo for a review copy, I can tell you that everything I loved about the mobile game is even better on my Switch.

Over a year ago, I downloaded the iOS version of Hello Kitty Island Adventure because it was one of two games containing my all-time favorite Sanrio character, Aggretsuko.

While I enjoyed the mobile game, I found the controls awkward and, at the time, the content was limited. Although I logged in a few times because I enjoyed the game, I wasn’t getting lost in it.

Enter Hello Kitty Island Adventure for Nintendo Switch. While I haven’t logged 400+ hours on this game yet (like I have for ACNH), I’m definitely on my way to getting there. With the expanded world and the Switch controls, the game is proving to be my new favorite cozy escape from a cold New England winter.

All Your Sanrio Faves in One Place

Over the last few years, I’ve leaned into the fact that while I wish my aesthetic was “punk rock chick with an attitude to match,” I’m really more “cute animals with big trusting eyes.” You don’t get cuter or more trusting eyes in the cartoon world than the Sanrio crew.

Of course, we have the titular Hello Kitty, but we also have other favorites including:

• My Melody
• Cinnamoroll
• Badtz-Maru
• Tuxedosam
• Pompompurin
• Pochacco
• Keroppi
• Chococat
• Hangydon
• Retsuko (Aggretsuko)
• Pekkle
• Kuromi

Each character comes with a special interest and storyline that you unlock as you grow the friendship.

Building Friendships Grows the Game

Similar to ACNH, Hello Kitty Island Adventure brings you everything from picking up sticks to farming to crafting items. It has all the traditional features of a cozy game, but it also comes with storylines that keep you interested in playing.

Whenever you gift a character an item they like, your friendship level grows. Each new friendship level unlocks different items and adventures. While I don’t want to spoil anything, I can say that if you’re an Aggretsuko fan like I am?

Yes, you’re going to get to scream out your rage with all the death metal thereunto appertaining.

Every character has their favorite items. Some of these are easy to find around the island, like the strawberries that Pochacco gives or the apples growing in the Spooky Swamp. Some items you need to build, like Retsuko’s volcanic guitar. Items that are harder to find or more complex to build typically get more excitement from your cute little buddies, giving you an incentive as you try to level up friendships to move the game along.

As your friendships become deeper, the characters start asking you to do more tasks and go on more challenges. Unlike ACNH where you pretty much meander around aimlessly, Hello Kitty Island Adventure gives you some nice stories to follow and adventures to take.

Buddy Up – in Game or with Multiplayer

While you could talk to your ACNH residents, you couldn’t talk them into running around the island with you. As your friendships in Hello KItty Adventure Island grow stronger, you earn the ability to ask characters to join you. Each character unlocks a different skill. For example, Retsuko has two different abilities:

• Adrenaline which charges up your stamina faster 
• Hot Stuff which lets you swim in molten rock

Have I unlocked these yet? No. Because growing your friendship with Retsuko is a slow burn in the game just like it was in the show.

One of the main differences between the Switch and mobile versions of the game is being able to invite friends over to your island. Early in the game, Keroppi will assign inviting someone as a task, unlocking multi-player.

Crafting and Decorating and Fishing – Oh My!

This wouldn’t be a cozy game if it didn’t have the typical cozy game mechanics. In Hello Kitty Island Adventure, the mechanics serve both a gaming and storytelling purpose. An incomplete list of different cozy game tasks include:

• Collecting resources that you can then use for crafting
• Crafting items for yourself, to give as gifts, or to complete a challenge
• Fishing which is… well, fishing which is usually my personal least favorite activity
• Mini-games that include races and puzzles
• Delivering items to characters, which also grows your friendship with them
• Finding items hidden around the island

The game really shines in the different weekly and daily challenges. Would I normally spend 2 hours looking for sand dollars? No. Am I doing that this week because it’s a challenge? Yes.

Slow and Steady for Real Relaxation

I know that someone at Nintendo might read this, but I was a big ACNH time traveller. With Hello Kitty Island Adventure, the game specifically explains to you that if you try to do this you will break your save file. The good news is that you don’t really need time travel to advance in the game. The primary time constraint revolves around how many gifts you can give the characters every day, limiting how quckly you can level up your friendships. 

In a world where we rush everywhere and barely have a moment to take a breath, Hello Kitty Island Adventure gives us a way to slow down and a reason to log in every day.