Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Written by Kelly Gray on 12/8/2025 for PC   SWI  

When Hello Kitty Adventure Island launched for Switch earlier this year, I was quick to purchase it. I wasn't reviewing it, I was just playing it as regular ole Kelly Gray—but with the recent launch of the game on Switch 2, I figured this was a great time to write a review about a game I really enjoy.

Once you begin a new game, you start out with standard character building—but as a really cute Sanrio-style animal. I, of course, chose a bunny. You have the opportunity to choose the markings, the clothes, and even the ear and face style. It's pretty adorable and not at all set in stone. You can always change your appearance throughout the game and even have opportunities to earn new looks as you progress.

As you embark on your true journey, you'll find yourself on an airplane with a few of your favorite Sanrio characters. You have the opportunity to walk around the plane and meet the others, or you can jump right into the adventure—literally. As trouble arises in the plane, you have to parachute to safety on none other than Hello Kitty Adventure Island. Don't worry, there's no threat to your safety here, because as you'd expect, you have one life, and its eternal on Hello Kitty Adventure Island.

Once you land on the sandy shores of the island, you'll meet some immediate characters and learn that your friends from the plane are scattered across the islands. Part of the overarching plot is to find those characters and help them get reunited with the larger group.

Throughout the game, there are quests you'll have to complete and achievements you'll have to hit. These quests can be simple, like making friends with the cast of characters by giving gifts, to baking apple pies, and my personal favorite, finding the hidden Gudetama eggs throughout the island and taking a picture with them. They can also get trickier, with puzzle rooms that require a bit of brainwork to maneuver. These quests aren't timed, and the open world allows for plenty of exploration, so even if you don't focus on the quests ahead of you, there's still plenty to do and see.

The quests are also not linear, so you'll have multiple ongoing quests, along with minor pop-up quests that build, which helps you to decide what your focus is that day. If you want to collect pineapples to bake a cake, you can! You're not in a rush to complete the major quests, so you really do have the flexibility to play exactly the game you want to play on any given day. This is the epitome of a cozy game!

Things I Liked

There's a really great feature in this game: a cute little golden star that floats in front of you and leads you in the direction you need to go. This was really helpful for me, especially when I took some time off of playing for a bit, jumped back in, and was minorly lost in my own quests. You can, at any time, turn this guide on and off, so it's nice to be able to use him to help get back on track, then turn him off to maintain a bit more difficulty in the game.

The star guide feature is also very helpful for the non-reader that may be playing. Despite the fact that Hello Kitty Adventure Island is all written copy with no voiceover, my 5-year-old still got way further than me despite her inability to read. I think that the star guide factor really lends itself well to helping her navigate, but as I said earlier, the fact that the game is open world means that she could also just stumble across a character and figure out what was needed.

Something else I love is that there is a world map, but the areas you haven't yet explored have clouds over them. That helps you to see your progress in moving through the storyline and is also really helpful because of how expansive the world is. Unlike other games of this kind, you can't hop from location to location in a portal, so you have to make your way around the expansive world the typical way—however, once you build your water flippers, the ocean is also swimmable. These are islands, remember! Swimming helps save a lot of time, almost like cutting corners, and quite honestly, it's fun!

The characters have some good minor development of their personalities. Badtz-Maru is kind of a troublemaker who cares deeply about comic books. My Melody is overly sweet and easy to win over. And Kuromi lives in the Spooky Swamp, which is fitting due to her goth-style. They are exactly the characters that I grew up with, and the game leans into their personality traits well enough that you're almost witnessing your friends come to life. What's better than that? Finding out that you have new favorites you've been overlooking your whole life because their personalities in the game win you over.

And finally, what I love about Hello Kitty Island Adventure is that it truly is one of those games in which you can lose all track of time. The immersive environment paired with the soft and gentle nature of the game feels a bit like a dream. At no point during my gameplay did I feel anxious or stressed, it was just cozy gaming in all of it glory. Cool, calm, beachy fun. Picking up sticks and shells and living the ultimate Sanrio dream. They didn't even choose to have angry characters—everyone is just happy to be there, and happy to see you when you finally find them. I say this all the time about cozy games, but with as much stress as there is in the world, a little break into a cozy space is comfort food for the brain.

Things That Could Use Work

This is directly from my sister-in-law, who was so obsessed with the game when it first launched that she couldn't put it down and powered through the game in which I can only assume is some sort of record. Anyway, my sister-in-law said she wants to keep playing, but at some point when you've completed all of your quests, you just feel kind of done. Even with the ability to just function on the island, without those quests pushing you forward, the thrill is gone. However, with the release of the Wheatflower Wonderland, the game has its first true DLC expansion, offering a whole new world for players to explore. Hopefully, this investment is favorable, because I'm sure there are many of us cozy gamers out there who want to see this game grow and expand.

As for me and my opinions, I find the quest navigation to be somewhat tricky. I spoke earlier about how you can step out and step back in and the star will help guide you along, but when I dig for more information on what it is that I'm actually doing, I am constantly coming up short. "Find the golden key" (disclaimer: I made that quest up, but it's a good made-up example!) may make sense if you're immersed in the game, but if you take time off and come back in, "Find the golden key" leads me to a lot of follow up questions, like: For who? Where is it? Does another character hold it, or is it in a bush somewhere? And once I find it, will I know what to do with it?

I tend to like a bit more exposition on my quests, along with the shortened description so I have a strong grasp on what's going on, or at minimum, something to jog my memory about what I'm doing. But I was consistently coming up short and just using the gold star to help me get back on track so I could find some storyline to grasp onto and get back in the rhythm. I don't need it all displayed on the main screen, but if I go into the backpack, maybe I have a journal that spells it out? I don't know. Again, I'll take full ownership if there is more information on the quests and I'm just not finding it.

Ultimately, as far as suggestions for improvements go, that's all I have. This game is a fun, much-needed high-quality cozy game to add to our collection.

Who Is Hello Kitty Adventure Island For?

I always feel as though I need to state that cozy games are not for the hardcore gamer. We are not battling, there is no bloodshed, no true strategy, there's hardly any resource management involved (yes, you do pick up items for crafting, but they are plentiful). A cozy game is meant for snuggling up after a long day and disassociating with some cuddly friendly cartoon characters who just want to sew you new clothes and introduce you to ghosts who trade hats. 

All of that being said, if you're a cozy gamer, Hello Kitty Adventure Island deserves, at minimum, consideration for a spot on your shelf. With its sweet graphics, and light and airy storyline, you get to casually walk through the lives of the characters you grew up with and help them in their own adventures.

If you're a parent, you should also consider adding Adventure Island to your collection because it's filled with safe messaging and happy vibes. Again, my 5-year-old played this game very well with minimal help (and minimal reading) from me. I don't understand that level of magic, but I'm also not going to question a great thing! It's definitely one of those games that you can play with your child that you'll both enjoy, which is rare to come by!

Overall Opinions

I have to state again that I initially played Hello Kitty Adventure Island on my own, outside of reviewing it, so my opinion on the game is a solid one. If it wasn't, I don't know that I would have offered to write up a review on the game that was mid at best. I very much enjoyed my gaming experience and will probably start a new character here soon, just so I can relive it and do it all over again!

Functionality is smooth, and I didn't have any issues with the game feeling choppy or disjointed, with no glitching experienced. Graphics are adorably sweet and perfectly executed to resemble the Hello Kitty universe in a seamless way.

Gameplay can be slightly repetitive in the quests, but not to the point where I no longer wanted to play. Gift-giving is heavy, especially at the start, so it feels a bit cumbersome to constantly be looking for the characters just to give them gifts so you can level up your friendship. However, once you get past the initial onslaught of gift-giving, the quests become more unique and varied, which pushes you to explore.

Overall, a really enjoyable experience for cozy gamers like myself. But don't take my word for it...

"Yay! I love it! I really like how you can make things [crafting] and making food with Hello Kitty." - My 5-year-old's formal Hello Kitty Island Adventure review. You heard it here first—it's 5-year-old approved.