Tropical Resort Story

If you’ve ever daydreamed about quitting your job and opening a juice stand next to a sea anemone, Tropical Resort Story is ready to turn that oddly specific fantasy into a 10/10 reality.

This beachside business sim from Kairosoft casts you as a resort manager tasked with transforming a humble island, equipped with a single bench and a recycling bin, into a five-star coastal utopia. At first, your biggest concern is where to put the cabins so they don’t block the crabs. Later, you’re terraforming coastlines, attracting clownfish by planting coral, and negotiating commercial deals with hermit crabs. (Yes, really. He has a lot of shell-based demands.)

Progress comes from the most satisfying kind of micromanagement: arranging buildings for synergistic combos, impressing business partners with perfectly placed fountains, and fulfilling guests’ lifelong goals like “put on swimwear and go swimming” (profound). It’s all backed by a shockingly strategic layout system, where smart placement impacts customer satisfaction, income, and even the local ecology.

But the real star here is the wildlife. Fishing unlocks new marine life, which roam your shores in real time, drawing in new guest types like “brat” (again, yes, really) who just want to see a blowfish. It’s part simulation, part creature compendium, and all extremely cozy chaos.

Tropical Resort Story feels like Animal Crossing met SimCity on vacation, got sunburned, and never left. It’s charming, smart, and strangely emotional, for a game where your most valuable guest might be a crab.

And yes, the bench is still there.