Review: Collector's Cove invites you to slow things down and enjoy the process of exploring

Quick Verdict: Collector’s Cove is an exploration and crafting game at its core. You’ll sail from island to island, gathering resources and finding hidden things. Along the way, you’ll complete a collection of items and dress up your Fablefin. Personally, I think this is a great game to play if you’re looking for genuinely slow-paced relaxation. It won’t be for those looking for something more upbeat.

A code was provided for Collector’s Cove by the publisher and it was played on PC.

Game:	Collector’s Cove
Developer(s):	VoodooDuck
Publisher:	VoodooDuck
Review Score:	8
Cozy Score:	10
Price: x	10
Pros:	There are many islands to explore, an adorable Fablefin to dress up, and a lot of things to discover on your journey.
Cons:	In the beginning, the travel between islands is long if you don’t have tasks to complete. Sleeping works a little, but it doesn’t finish the journey and there is a cool-down of 3 minutes, so you’ll have to fish in your downtime.
Platforms:	PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
Genres:	Adventure, Farming, Exploration, Crafting

The cozy score merely reflects how relaxing a game is and does not impact the review score.

Collector’s Cove is an exploration adventure game where you inherit a boat from your family and use it to set sail between islands. Your goal is to become a Named Collector and to do that, you’ll need to fill up your compendium with discoveries, bond with your Fablefin, and explore all the sea has to offer in terms of pillaging islands.

Your main goal will be to build up a sustainable farm filled with vegetables and equipment that will help you on your quest to discover not just regular fish and vegetables, but fabled versions of them as well. For instance, you can find Surgeonfish by the boatload, but if you have met secret conditions, you’ll find the variant, Coralfish.

Every fish and vegetable has a variant for you to find and all the ways to achieve their ultimate forms are different. Sometimes, you’ll discover the conditions on your own, but there are ways to buy hints so that you never get stuck.

You’ll want to spend your time figuring out how to snag these rarer types because not only do they help fill up your compendium, but you can feed them to your Fablefin as well!

Your Fablefin is a Nessie-type creature that holds your home and farm on its back. Not only will it be your mode of transportation, but it’s your friend as well. You can customize and dress up your Fablefin as well as give it a name. And, if you feed it fabled food, it will level up and give you boosts like swimming faster through the ocean or giving you unique blessings that serve as buffs. By increasing your bond, you’ll open up the option to create a bigger base of operations to build upon.

There seem to be four different environments for you to discover and each region will have its own unique fish and crops to find and master.

Watch the trailer for Collector’s Cove!

The resources that you find will be useful in crafting, but also in earning an income. Everything you have to spare can be sold to your local merchant, your uncles. You can call for them with a bell and sell your extra wares, trade resources, and buy useful things.

There are three stalls, each serving a unique purpose. One is for buying seeds, another for upgrading your boat and trading, and the last is where you can buy recipes, secrets, and accessories for your Fablefin.

The gameplay is very, very simple. You sail from island to island, you pillage the land, and then you head on to the next one. The format should be boring. I’ll admit, I fully expected it to get dull, but I actually enjoy the quiet time to just collect resources.

It’s very Animal Crossing coded, honestly. You chop trees, mine ore, collect flowers, dig up soil, and fish. It’s all the elements that you enjoy, but without having to wait for a new day or for things to respawn. Hell, even the fishing is fun and I’m not really the type to sit and fish.

This is where the downtime between islands is kind of a blessing. When you have nothing else to do while you wait for a new island, fishing is always there to keep you busy. I’ve managed to build up quite a bit of coin just by passing the time fishing and pulling resources that drift by in barrels from the sea.

Collector’s Cove is not for the player who wants a ton of quests or needs the ability to set off in any direction and explore. You’re very much relegated to a rather small playing field. This will be for those who enjoy collecting resources, who want to slowly build up a homestead at sea, and who enjoy the slower pacing of games.

Normally, I’m the type of person who needs the freedom to do what I want, when I want. I’m usually a very quest-based person. So, I’ll admit, even though I have been excited to try this game, I expected to be disenchanted fairly quickly due to the slower gameplay setup.

I’m very much still engaged. As someone who felt the lull between islands like a pumicestone dragging against my skin, I did end up finding the flow when I accepted it was time I could spend quietly improving my boat and fish stock.

While Collector’s Cove seems to invite you to slow down and relax, it’s designed in a way that discourages you from stopping. It has a slow but ever-moving pace that keeps you in the sweet spot of cozy, unhurried relaxation.

If you want to experience the intrigue of slow-paced collecting, Collector’s Cove will be available on March 12th for $19.99 on Steam, PlayStation 5, or Nintendo Switch. For a limited time, it will have a 10% launch discount that you can enjoy.

If Collector’s Cove doesn’t call to you, you can check out one of our other reviews, Lost and Found Co., it’s a hidden object game that may be more your speed.