PuffPals: Island Skies is a cozy, cel-shaded farming and life simulator from Fluffnest where players can farm, explore, and build their own home in the clouds.

Fluffnest is a Los Angeles-based company founded by independent creators Lily, David, and Jenn after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2020. Their PuffPals plushies, stationery, and stickers are insanely adorable, and now they’re converting that hyper-cuteness into video game form with PuffPals: Island Skies.

I know what you’re thinking: “There are already oodles of farming sims out there! What makes this one different?” All it takes is one look at PuffPals’ gameplay to immediately make you want to inhabit the world Fluffnest has created. Every part of the scenery is so bright and colorful, and every single character is big-eyed and chubby-cheeked. Customization of your farm, house, and avatar is a major draw for this game. I’m already itching to create an adorable chibi version of myself! From everything I’ve seen, though, I think I’m most excited about the interior design features. There is so much freedom when it comes to where you can place furniture and decor, very much like my favorite mobile gacha game, Love Nikki: Dress-Up Queen.

After a massively successful Kickstarter campaign that generated over $2.5 million in the span of a single month (far surpassing their original funding goal of $75k), it looks like Fluffnest’s every hope and dream for the game could potentially be realized. A long list of stretch goals for the campaign—all of which have been achieved—included online multiplayer, fishing and cooking, and extra biomes to explore. 

The Kickstarter for PuffPals: Island Skies closed on May 6, 2022 with over 42,000 backers. An alpha build and early access will be available for low-tier backers in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The game is tentatively slated for full release in 2025 on PC, with ports for Mac, mobile, and Nintendo Switch scheduled for future release. In the meantime, you can get to know all the PuffPals by heading over to Fluffnest’s website. I might just order one of their precious plushies for myself in case I need to give it an excited squeeze whenever I’m overcome with anticipation for their video game debut!