A charming metroidvania where you piece floating islets back together to reopen a fractured world. Reconnecting the map gives exploration real momentum. Smooth combat, light humor, and a likable world make it very easy to enjoy.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player7+
Description
Iko travels across floating islands, reuniting fragments of the world to rebuild a shattered sky. Published by Armor Games, released worldwide in 2022. Open maps linked by flying mechanisms, weapon upgrades, hidden secrets and colourful bosses in a hand-drawn style.
Amid floating islets, the guardians stretch the metroidvania formula toward fights as inventive as they are tender. Each battle exploits a freshly acquired power, making movement mastery the true key to victory. The handcrafted charm of the whole wraps brisk duels where dodging and repositioning outweigh brute force.
An underrated gem
The core idea fits in a single image: floating islands you draw together yourself by activating gears, reshaping the map as you explore. This hand-drawn metroidvania slipped under the radar, lost in a saturated genre and carried by a low-profile studio. Its modular structure and colorful bosses are well worth the trip, especially for players who love watching the world reconfigure beneath their feet.
Is Islets still worth playing in 2026?
Islets plays the welcoming, warm metroidvania card where others lean on austerity. Joining floating islands with flying gears gives a real sense of a world reassembling beneath your feet, and progress stays readable without ever losing you. The bold, expressive hand-drawn style ages very well because it never chases realism. The colourful bosses bring flair without tipping into frustration. Against the genre's heavyweights Islets stays modest yet generous, ideal for discovering the formula or running through a cheerful adventure with no punishing curve.
