Ren'Py - Holiday Island [v0.5.0.1] [darkhound1]

I really don't understand this very high community rating of Holiday Island. The only positive aspect of this game is the quite big and diverse cast of the women. But you can't handpick the models you'll want to meet on the island, just influence it broadly by choosing your favorite body shapes at the beginning of this game.

Apart from that most women in this game have artificial doll faces and proportions are most often unrealistic. Also the areolas of most boobs aren't at the anatomically correct position (way too high) and not to mention the unnaturally large boobs, which most often look completely out of place compared to the rest of the body. (Don't get me wrong, I like big natural breasts, but these should look at least realistically.)

The game is a grind-fest and you as a player may waste countless hours grinding for affection, love and lust points in order to catch a new mediocre scene. Additionally the gameplay is completely redundant. You will watch the same over and over again. Having mentioned scenes above, animations most often are terrible in Holiday Island. H-scenes are scarce, most scenes are just teasing.

The story is pretty much ridiculous and dialogues are trash to begin with and may not even fit to the situation. You might have had sex with a girl the day before, but the next day dialogues will be the same for the small redundant interactions as if nothing ever happened between the mc and the particular woman.

I really can’t recommend Holiday Island for the time being. For me this is a huge time waste for very little sex content. But not only therefore it's very much overrated.

When I first started playing this game, I was instantly delighted by the quality of the models, the look of the women and how they were portrayed, but soon my delight would turn to frustration as I played more. The game teases you a lot (see below).. the problem, however, is that if you take this teasing to mean that hot sex scenes must be right around the corner, and if they aren't then you can just rush through the text to get there, you are setting yourself up to be disappointed. While this game is absolutely packed full of slutty girls that are constantly showing off their bodies to you and encouraging you to ogle, you do have to progress the game by exploring and doing quests in order to get to the sex scenes with the girl(s) that you want.

However, as you can see, I'm rating this game five stars. Even though after I had played for only a few hours I was ready to warn others to stay away from this time-wasting tease-fest, I now look back at myself a few days ago and just shake my head.. because I love this game now. Read more to see why.

The Good:

• Models - The models are high quality with lots of detail and are dressed in a variety of different sexy outfits, and the variety of outfits that you see the girls in steadily grows as you play more. The dev does a great job of consistently presenting the girls in an appealing manner in a variety of different outfits and settings.
• Story - The story is interesting, pretty well-thought out with lots of detail and is pretty sexually enticing. I'm looking forward to see how it progresses.
• Sandbox - If you've been playing games posted on this site for a while, you almost certainly will have come across sandbox games that made you wonder "Why on earth did the dev decide to make this a sandbox?". Poorly executed and pointless sandbox games are everywhere, but this isn't one of them. The dev has done an amazing job at filling this sandbox with content to explore and has actual functioning mechanics that feel good to play with. This is a true sandbox that is fun to play in.
• Content, Variety and Progression - There is a huge amount of content here. Huge. There is a huge variety of content with the girls which leads to seeing them in all kinds of different situations, outfits etc. There is currently a significant amount of progression in the game, which sees both the main storyline and the individual storylines of each girl progressing gradually, frequently both unfolding at the same time.
• Fit Megaslut Bimbos - This game is pretty hard committed to the bimbo style of woman that takes pleasure in modeling and modifying her appearance to be as sexually appealing to men as possible. So this means a certain makeup look, huge tits, full lips, a fit body with abs, thin waist and big hips. If you don't like that.. then this isn't the game for you (although, to be fair, there are a few girls that do not fit that description, although they don't have much content yet). The story-line of the game is even about women modifying their bodies to achieve this particular, stereotypical ideal. So if you do like this, then you're in for a treat. In my opinion, you can definitely go way too far with the bimbo style such that it's not appealing anymore, but I think the dev has struck a pretty good balance and has not gone too far at all.
• Teasing - The dev uses the girls words, bodies and clothing to tease often and does it very well. It's the best visual teasing in any porn VN.
• Areola Teasing - The dev specifically teases areolas constantly with nearly all of the girls with a variety of different outfits, which is something that I love and it seems that the dev feels the same way. Every minute you play the game you will see various girls on the island casually walking around with their areolas partially showing.
• Sexual Tension - The dev does a great job of creating and sustaining sexual tension during events and scenes with the girls, which is something that most porn VN's don't do well or don't do at all. It's unfortunately very common for sex scenes in porn VN's to happen abruptly without any warm-up and you won't see that at all here. In every scene where it is possible to create tension and anticipation the dev will have you drooling before anyone has their clothes off.
• Miriam and Mercedes - Sweet jesus there are some hot women in this game. The dev should get a medal or something for crafting so many insanely hot women and putting them in the same game. The pictures here don't do them justice, you have to play the game.

The Bad:

• Sandbox, Quests and Sex Scenes - The game presents you with this pretty big sandbox with the girls right away that you start exploring and it seems reasonable to expect that you will find sex scenes if you explore it.. but you won't, and it will be frustrating.. until you realize that most sex scenes are acquired by progressing the game with quests. The game needs to do a better job of communicating this to the reader, with something that is part of the UI that is on the screen at all times.
• Dialog - The dialog is repetitive and pretty lame. Although the girls do have unique back-stories which they talk to you about, the way they all speak is pretty much the same, using the same phrases and talking about the same things. Also there is basically zero humor. The MC is the stereotypical not-good-with-girls, always nervous, stuttering and apologizing all the time nonsense. So yeah the dialog is really low effort, no creativity, no wit, no surprises, no quirkiness, no humor. The girls referencing their seductive clothing and various partially exposed body parts is fine, great even, but they all do it in the exact same way. There are no mean girls and nice girls, bubbly girls and quiet girls.. they are just all the same girl which isn't really any of those.
• Sex Scenes - The sex scenes are, for the most part, brief and uninspired. The dev does a good job of heating things up in all other aspects, but doesn't do nearly as good of a job with the sex itself. The actual sex of sex scenes usually feels rushed, mechanical.. as if the dev just wants to get through them with the minimum number of images and animations possible, and it translates to the characters themselves who seem to just want to get the sex over with so they can continue their day. Nothing creative, unexpected or especially hot or sexy ever happens.

The Ugly:

• The animations are mostly terrible.

This game is pure fun: comming from sexy strip-poker in the earlys this project continually comes out with new ideas and high quality renders.
Hanging around day by day as the only guy between more than a handfull sexy girls, means a lot of hard ;-) work to do.
Keep on with this spirit, busty girls, funny places, lovely interactions. It is a juwel!

I'm not going to lie.. Lacks a bit of story, smells a weeee bit lazy writing but dude... The 3D art is... Well let me just say; art in this game is by far the best 3D art i have seen in such games. Its actually reminding me puppetmaster a little which is a killer artist like yourself. I salute you and wish you success sir. o7

Honestly this game is a bit addicting, idk. I really enjoyed playing this game.

Animations are okay, but the renders are great..

Each female are great with strong character developments..

I actually wish he will add more sounds in-game to make the game a bit immersive..

I still give this a 5/5 though, I really just enjoy the game that much lol..

I really want to give this 5 stars, as the renders are lovely, the ladies are right up my alley and the overall game is pretty good. I can't however due to the open nature of the gameplay. My problem is: the MC is stuttering and awkward about seeing boobies of a lady who the night before he creampied. The lack of consistency can be annoying at times and the hunting for the random events is, well, random, and frustrating.

This game is a perfect example of why I don't play these games that I KNOW are going to be BS but everyone is raving about it in the reviews as the best fucking game ever... Meanwhile:

• Game is dry as fuck
• All characters are exactly the same
• The gameplay is "click the same buttons over and over again until an arbitrary number/stat gets big enough to allow you to have fun"
• The scenes are literally the worst scenes I have ever encountered (literally would be better if the dev didn't do animations, they look like theyre fucking glitching back and forth)
• You can grind a character for hours and not have any sexual content (AKA any interaction with genitals)

It DOES have attractive models. And more than one of them. That's it. Literally just go google "3d sexy girl model with big mommy boobies" and get the exact same experience.

I have a list of games I recommend on my profile's about page if you want to verify that I'm not a miserable fuck. You can see my other ratings and notice that I give more 3+ star reviews than 1 and 2 star reviews. This game is worse than trash, it is a plague on my PC.

Play it for the renders. Game mechanic is fun, but also too grindy. The renders is what makes this game good, that's it.

Only reason I'm being hard on the game is because with better writing, it could extremely good. There's a believability problem. The MC makes a lot of mistakes with how he carries himself with women like these. Then when they don't respond with the expected outcome, it just feels unrealistic, like they're just tolerating your presence, and trying to pretend the MC isn't saying stupid things.

I wonder if there are more hard to get girls? Hmm.

Chase & Seduction 2/5 - The women literally throw themselves at you. There's no challenge. Imagine in real life a girl literally just threw herself at you over & over again. You're gonna naturally be turned off by it. It goes against the male instinct. Like in the plane with Amy, she's already teasing you with her tits, there's no reason for her to just take her top off. Unless maybe, you pick the write dialogue options that are sooo suave and clever, that you manage to get them off, but in a very believable way.

Dialogue 0/5 - This dialogue is the most hilarious shit I've ever seen. This is not the exact same dialogue in game, but it's pretty much the gist of it.

10 - MC: "You're so beautiful, you're so hot. Omg, you're tits. They're so perfect."
20 - Girl: "Oh, you like my tits? Want to see them?"
30 - MC: "Wow, really? WOW....."
40 - Girl: "See how hot and big they are? So round huh?"
50 - MC: "That's amazing, they look so big."
60 - MC: "Hey, you're really beautiful!"
70 - Girl: "Thanks! I've never heard a guy tell me that before."
80 - MC: "WOW REALLY? COOL! I'll make sure to say it over & over again!"
90 - GOTO 10

Render Quality - 10/5 - It's the only reason I'm playing this game. Fantastic renders, the women look hot as hell.

Music 3/5 - Works most of the time, chill and captures the holiday vibe. Music shouldn't keep playing, only sometimes, it gets repetitive.

Programming 5/5 - Dev's a good coder, makes complicated systems, does it well.

This MC is a complete fool. I just want to punch the MC in the face over & over again. This stupid character needs to stop calling the women beautiful over & over again. Tell him to shut up, PLEASE. I wish we had more control over the dialogue.

The MC's writing forced me to bump the game from 5 to 3 stars. If only the MC knew what the women were really thinking, it would finally force him to stop acting like a complete moron. The women should at least correct all his mistakes so he becomes a better man.

I didn't play all the way to the end yet, so maybe the MC learns how to be more suave by the end of the game? I'm hoping the women at least teach him the errors of his ways. One of these women will need to confront him about it soon. This is terrible.

Renders are fantastic though!

Amazing game with a dedicated author who works toward real and satisfying content updates. I support him on Patreon, and if you really like Holiday Island you might want to consider throwing some dough Darkhound's way.

TLDR: Awesome game,. MUST TRY. Use the mod/guide. Your privates will thank you!

HOLY SHIT! FUCKING A!

This game.... in 1 word... is HOT!
in 2 words......is FUCKING HOT!
in 3 words......is SOOOOO FUCKING HOT!!!

I can keep going, but I want to try writing the review with my big brain..

Undeniably, this is an extremely visually appealing game. The models are well.. gorgeous, and the renders are super high quality. I see ah so many of my unborn children being sacrificed to this title!

Coming to the gameplay... Its unique, and well thought through! Usually, sandbox games disappoint, because you either have to do repetitive tasks that make them boring, or there a lot of grinding with practically no story impact. NOT HI!
In this game, you mostly do things you would normally do, like get to know someone, and chat about stuff to connect with them.

Now coming to the complexity.. Unfortunately, this game is complex. I hate to say it, but playing it without the guide or mod will not be satisfying. the reason for that is that the Devs are very good at and serious about replicating human interactions. you wont expect a regular woman to give you their phone number or room number just like that.... you gotta build the relationship, and say the right things. also, a good relationship can also be negatively impacted by asking rude questions or saying inappropriate shit... same dynamic works in the game. But thats what mods and guides are for .. right!


But the MOST impressive thing about this game is the attention to detail. from visuals to sounds, to gameplay.... everything is created with love, passion, and expertise. The Devs clearly have the willingness to go the extra mile, and the talent to bend the platform capabilities to their will!

Respect for the devs! cant wait to see this evolve into one of the best games ever.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Kudos for taking your craft to the highest level. It is only possible to achieve this degree of excellence with a healthy blend of rare talent, dedication, focus, and passion. Thank you for sharing.

The models are splendid, and keep me coming back for more. Personally, I have always been a big fan of "large" breasts...however my excitement drops off considerably at "huge" breasts. I suppose I wish there was a bit more size variety say between Lacey and Amy, but to each their own.

But if there was only one thing I could change in this game, it would have to be the addition of kinkiness to the sexual experiences between MC and the girls (e.g., handcuffing Amy while licking her pussy, spanking Yvette's beautiful ass till it is pink, calling Desire a dirty slut while penetrating her, pulling Joy by her hair while ripping her shirt open...hold on, I need to go play the game for a bit...)

Anyhow, thanks for a great game and look forward to seeing what you have in-store next. In the mean time, happy to contribute to your Patreon.

One of the better games for me. Well developed, lots of things to do, great renders and animations. Just wait for the next updates and new content. You can see that the developer is trying hard and looking for such extensive games as this, which do not rely on constant grinding, but bring many options to the whole game (if you know, recommend it: P). There is no other like this.

I want to be honest: I’ve nothing but admiration and praise for the work and the sheer dedication this developer have. This game has a great amount of quality content, but the thing that amazes me is that I see no end to the game’s growth.
Story is minimal enough to remain open, renders are great and you’re going to pass some good amounts of time with every character, knowing them increasingly well.
Game’s pretty vanilla (no anal, nothing too kinky), but if you’re a boob man you’ll love it.
In my opinion this is the best game on this site, big thanks to Darkhound for this endless pit of a sandbox!

I don't really like playing unfinished games. Idea of waiting many months or more for rest of the game is not something i consider fun. Playing after every new update also seems very pointless to me. I just prefer to have full game where i can sit and play from start to finish without waiting for more content. But i've made one exception. And it was totally worth it. After around 65 hours with version v0.2.3.2 Beta i can say that Holiday Island is one of the best games i ever played.

This is a sandbox game, so it's extremely nonliniar experience. This is exactly what i was looking for. The classical visual novel games with different branches and endings can obviously be great but honestly i think in games (especially in this kind of games) freedom is king. Nonlinear experience when you control the pace of the game and not the other way around. In current state of the game main story pretty much doesn't exist. There is just you (the player), girls and the island. That's it. You decide what to do, where to do, when to do and with who. Setting here is very simple, you go on holiday on beautiful island filled with nothing but lovely ladies. It just works. This is a sandbox game, so you will not get every juicy scene from the start. But thats fine, thats the point. You have to earn it. There is a lot to do here. And you can play strip poker with girls, how awesome is that? You can even chose the posters hanging in your room. Now this is good stuff.

Let me say this, the cast of girls in this game is amazing. There are other games with great girls of course but no other game have such an amazing roster, where every girl is super lovable. Every girl here is special. Even these who technically are not my type. They have great personalities and they're all gorgeous. Island filled with hot and lewd girls. The only bad thing about girls is that some have very small amount of content but this obviously should change in the future. Renders itself i would say are fine for the most part. Some are not that great quality but it's not something very bothering. There is a huge diversity and even in the same locations you can get very different scenes with different girls. Also the music is actually really good. It actually helps to have good music in this type of game.

I was looking for sandbox game for a change. When i saw Holiday Island i tried to wait at least for a new update but i couldn't resist. This game looks too good on paper and even better in action. Honestly after 65 hours of playing i still didn't saw all the game have to offer right now. But after so many hours i dont really want to play anymore because i know there's not much more content left. So i guess i'll sit and wait for the full release in 2030 or something and then i will return to this amazing game knowing there is a lot new stuff to discover.

Holiday Island has a lot going for it.

The setup to the story is exactly as it should be: paper thin. We're not entering into a universe of high drama and intrigue. This is a sandbox game where you're taken to an island full of, well, bimbos.

There's a lot of content, and the girls are somewhat different in terms of personality. The model design is great and the renders are very nice. It's definitely a great game to look at.

The thing I found most annoying about it is the amount of teasing that's going on without a lot of action (unless you count jerking it in your hotel room). The teasing is excellently done, mind you. It's just that it'd be nice if there were more, or more obvious, routes for payoffs. This is the only reason why i knocked points off, is the frustration is not enjoyable to me.

I could totally see someone else getting completely addicted to this game. It's high quality and obviously the developer has put a lot of time and effort into making an enjoyable game.

if you're a big tit aficionado, this is the game for you! No other game I've played keeps me turned on from when I start playing until I "finish"! It is grindy as some have noted but the payoff is HUGE! The one con I do have is that for a game that has such a focus on big tits, there's an EXTREME lack of tit/nipple sucking. Other than that one (disappointing for me) con, this is a game worth supporting on patreon!

Great game, consistent updates, im finding myself looking out for similar games all the time, only to be dissapointed by the harsh truth that only Holiday Island can even come close to it's level of quality.

So this is the second time i've tried to play this game and i just can't get much past the prologue without tapping out. It's clear a lot of effort went into this game, and there is a lot of content and it seems like if you can push through the mountain of grind there is good stuff with the very hot looking ladies. And as much as I abhor the idea of an "endurance" stat that limits how much you can do i think i could push through the grind if the MC wasn't written as such a ridiculously pathetic letch. Like every two seconds he's stammering over his words because he sees some cleavage. We get it the girls are hot. Apparently picking charming as a beginning perk does nothing to remediate the MCs cartoonish overreaction to hot ladies. Also not super keen on all the sexual content in the first portion of the game consisting of watching the MC jerk off while looking at a tiny picture of one of the girls from the game. Like i said the is a really nice looking game and all the ideas are appealing to me and i'll probably try it again at some point but i feel like the dev could make the beginning of the game a little less shitty without destroying the overall feel of the game. Re-writing the MC to not be a stammering idiot would certainly go a long way.

Edit so i'm adjusting my review a bit since i was able to get through the first bit. As i said the models are great and the girls are fun if a bit superficial from a characterization standpoint, though there are a lot of them so that's a bit understandable. The animations are good but a bit short. The MC is still kind of a goofy anime harem protag always stammering when he sees tits but it's not as bad. The game could really use a good gallery as the one present only contains stills and the events are often random and i have no idea if they are repeatable. You can use saves i suppose but that is far from ideal for a game that the dev is asking you to put this much time and grind into. Definately worth playing though as despite its flaws it can be a fun and sexy game

this game comes down to whether or not you like giganto-titties and I just do not. I was lued into it by the fact that the game asks you what type of women you like at the beginning but this seems to be a red herring. None of my choices seemed to alter which girls I had access to. I'm also not the biggest sandbox fan so this game was always fighting an uphill battle with me. Just not my type of game.

One of my favorites, especially for a rendered sandbox game. The goal of this is to explore and build relationships, so there is no real walkthrough outside of trying to get specific quests done. Nicely done, open ended game that keeps expanding over the years. Been following since the beginning and haven't been disappointed yet.

Pros:

• Nicely done renders, though if you don't like huge breasts you won't enjoy this dreamscape of boobilicious babes
• Open ended, lots to explore and more coming each release!
• Each girl has their own developed personality
• Much as you are a boy toy, you don't feel like one in the game

Cons (with conditions, as noted)

• Grindy, it's worth going through once to understand the mechanics of the game.
• Huge Boobs, for those who don't like them, for those who do - see Pros
• Some girls don't get updates as frequent as others. The Patreon Problem where polls are controlled by donors, want to see more of a girl then donate - otherwise you may wait a long time for more of your favorite