Islanders: New Shores Halloween
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ISLANDERS: New Shores (Switch): all the updates (latest: Halloween Update)

Lite_Agent ,

On this page, you will find all there is to know about the various updates for ISLANDERS: New Shores on Nintendo Switch.

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ISLANDERS: New Shores – Ver. ??? (Halloween Update)

  • Release date: October 20th/21st 2025
  • Patch notes:

  • Added → New Biome “Halloween” (accessible via challenge mode, or sandbox mode. You will NOT be able to select “Halloween” biome via the main journey mode)

  • Added → New sandbox items (pumpkins, gravestones, spooky trees, candle variant items)

  • Added → New Boon “Replace”: Discard the buildings you have the most copies of in your building bar, and draw 1.5 as many new ones at random

  • Added → New reward: camera filter, unlocked via challenge “Clairvoyage”

  • Added → New reward: Aviary building facade, unlocked via challenge “Ghost Whisperer”

  • Added → New spooky music for the “Halloween” biome

  • Added → 4 new spooky challenges

    • Ghost Whisperer

    • Clairvoyage

    • Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

    • Industrious

  • Added → Accessibility option for using the gamepad controls (from the first ISLANDERS game).

    • In this mode the hotkey for switching between the building and boon bar has moved to the west face button.

    • In this mode it’s not possible to raise/lower buildings in sandbox mode.

  • Added → Re-bindable key “Hold for no snapping” that will ignore snapping when held down.

  • Added → 6 New achievements / Trophies

  • Secret → Careful where you click…

  • Additional details:

  • Ghost Whisperer – Starts with two statues with wisps. Your positive building scores will only count if you also score against a wisp.

    • Challenge REWARD! – Successfully score 5000+ points to unlock the Aviary Façade

  • Clairvoyage – Play for the best Fortune Teller placement possible. Your building draw limit will never decline. Your highest Fortune Teller score is submitted to the leader board.

    • Challenge REWARD! – Successfully score 850+ points to unlock the Halloween Filter

  • Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop – Travel over 10 islands but you only get 3 minutes per island. For each building scoring 20+ points you get an additional 10 seconds

  • Industrious – Start with a building bar full of industrial buildings and plenty of boons to help you out, but earn no further packs

  • NEW BOON – “Replace”: Discard the buildings you have the most copies of in your building bar, and draw 1.5 as many new ones at random

  • Additional notes: none
  • Source: Coatsink (Steam)

ISLANDERS: New Shores – Ver. ???

  • Release date: October 3rd/4th 2025
  • Patch notes:

  • Updated → The “Add Cliff House” boon now rewards 6 Cliff Houses, instead of 4.

  • Updated → Wall score against Houses and Mansions increased from 3 to 5.

  • Added → 4 NEW Challenges

    • Metropolis – A single island where your building draw limit never declines. Can you keep going until you run out of room?

    • Manufactory – No city in sight. Can you score high without any inhabitants?

    • Mt Roberson – With limited space, clever use of wall platforms and cliff houses is the key to higher scores.

    • Vanishing – Only 20 buildings can exist at the same time! When placing your 21st, your oldest will vanish.

  • Added → 6 new achievements/trophies to complete

  • Additional notes: none
  • Source: Coatsink (Steam)

ISLANDERS: New Shores – Ver. ???

  • Release date: August 28th/29th 2025
  • Patch notes:

Patch notes

  • Fixed → Issues where not all buildings were included in the score calculation with cone shapes.
  • Fixed → Issue where the island score indicator UI sometimes would be invisible when completing a run.
  • Fixed → Issue where verdures placed on plateaus would not be visible after save/load.
  • Fixed → Buildings placed with alternate facades reverting back to base facade after saving and loading a second time in sandbox mode.
  • (Consoles) Fixed → Issue where not all buildings would grant a score when using the Precious boon.
  • (Consoles) Fixed → Issue where score was not calculated correctly when undoing boons on Aurora islands.
  • (Consoles) Packaged key art updated.
  • Added → Challenge mode, 4 new ways to play the game!
    • A Short Journey
    • No Time To Dilly-Dally
    • Temple Trouble
    • Fully Stacked
  • Added → A delay before the screensaver is activated, the delay has been increased to 3 minutes.
  • Added → Message prompt when starting a new highscore game to warn about losing progress.
  • (Consoles) Added → Delay before the screensaver is activated increased to 3 minutes.
  • Updated → Credits with special thanks

What is the new challenge mode?

Test your skills and see how you fare against the new challenges!
There are 4 new challenges available, these challenges are here to stay so you can retry them whenever you’d like. All 4 challenges feature a weekly and global leader board too. 

  • A Short Journey: For those of us who want to play ISLANDERS: New Shores but may have a busy schedule, this is a shorter condensed version to play! How high a score can you get within 3 islands?
  • No Time To Dilly Dally:You’ve got 30 minutes to score as high as possible, keep an eye on the timer at the top of the screen and prepare to play quickly!
  • Temple Trouble: Build your city around placing your perfect temple, we have a high score temple placement so far of 1014 – we’re keen to see what you all can do
  • Fully Stacked: If you had a perfect start to the game, all the buildings and all the boons available, what would you place first? You can’t earn more buildings or boons, so plan carefully! This challenge will always start in the desert biome.
  • Additional notes: none
  • Source: Coatsink (Steam)

How to download updates for ISLANDERS: New Shores on Nintendo Switch?

To download the updates for ISLANDERS: New Shores, you have three options:

  • let the console do its thing if you have automatic downloads activated, and didn’t completely turn it off

If not…

  • try to launch the game from the Home Menu while being connected to the internet. You should get a prompt when doing so: simply follow the instructions on screen;

OR

  • select the game > press either + or – to go to the Options page > select Software update > select Via the Internet.

To check that you have the latest version installed, simply select the game on the Home Menu, and press – or + to go to the Options: the version number is displayed just below the game title.

Lite_Agent

Founder and main writer for Perfectly Nintendo. Tried really hard to find something funny and witty to put here, but had to admit defeat.