Coral Island is a farming simulation by the developers Stairway Games and published by Humble Games. This sim includes many concepts that fans of the genre will find familiar, from changing seasons, growing seeds, upgrading homes, and more.
One of the most popular parts of any farm or life simulation game is the romance and the interaction with the other villagers in their new home. Friendship and love are usually obtained by interacting with NPCs and giving them gifts, and this is also true on Coral Island. But in order to give the best presents to everyone, players will first need to learn everyone's preferences.
How Friendship and Love Work On Coral Island
Friendship and love are both driven by the same scale, which is called the Heart Gauge in Coral Island. The more an NPC's hidden gauge is filled up, the closer friends they will become with the player. Also, the Heart Gauge will occasionally unlock unique friendship-only events while players are wandering around town. These are things like a simple stretch with one of Coral Island's romanceable characters Noah and his mother to being able to marry and have children with an NPC.
In order to give someone a gift, players need to walk up to them with the item in their hot bar. Select the item to hold it, then right-click on the character. If a weapon, tool, or other non-giftable item is selected, players will talk to the NPC, but if an item is selected, that item will be given as a gift. This means that players cannot gift an item in their Coral Island inventory without moving it to the hotbar first.
Giving the Worst Gifts
While chatting with the neighbors and attending events during the year will get players closer to all the NPCs in this Stardew Valley-inspired game, the fastest way to get someone to be better friends is to give gifts. There are some rules to gift giving, however, and one of the most important is universal dislikes. Players should avoid giving these as gifts to anyone at anytime.
- Artifacts
- Anything found on the beach that is not a shell
- Bait
- Bugs
- Building materials
- Canola oil
- Cotton
- Crafting materials
- Explosives
- Failed dishes
- Farm decor and equipment
- Fertilizer and compost
- Fish
- Fishing gear, bait, and rods
- Fossils
- Geodes
- Grass
- Hay
- Kelp
- Kelp essence
- Metal bars and ore (with some exceptions for the blacksmiths)
- Seeds
- Trash
- Wheat flour
Giving the Best Gifts on Coral Island
There are a handful of items in the Kickstarter success called Coral Island that are almost universally loved by everyone in town with minimal exceptions. These items can be given to anyone at any time and earn the player a good section of the heart meter without having to worry too much if the NPC will love it or not.
- Black rose. Everyone except Noah love this color of rose.
- Pink Diamond. Everyone except Jim loves this color of diamond.
- Rainbow wool.
Best Gifts for Coral Island's Dateable Characters
The best way to figure out what kind of gifts an NPC might love is to chat with them every day. The characters of the Animal Crossing-like Coral Island have no problems stating their likes and dislikes out loud. Players just need to listen; for example, Mark often talks about his love of tomato soup when he's not talking about the shelter animals he cares for. Here are a couple of items, on top of the universal likes, that players can get for each romanceable character in Coral Island.
- Aaliyah - Chocolate Chip Muffin, Eggplant, Eggplant Lasagna, Hummus, Lasagna, Luwak Coffee, Strawberry, White Hibiscus
- Alice - Almond Oil, Dye, Green Smoothie, Minced Jackfruit Pie, Olive Oil
- Ben - Banana, Green Tea, Mushrooms
- Chaem - Basil Pesto Pasta, Gnocchi, Pizza, Seafood Ramen, Veggie Ramen
- Charles - Blueberry, Burrito, Cookies, Diamond, Falafel, Ginger, Strawberry
- Eva - Cookies, Diamonds, Orchids, Peony, Red Velvet Cake
- Kenny - Green Tea, Hash browns, Lychee, Kombucha, Roasted Almonds, Soybean, Vegan Taco
- Leah - Hot Chocolate, Pearls
- Luke - Butter Croissant, Eggplant Lasagna, Ratatouille, Tomato Soup, Stew, Wine
- Macy - Blue Quartz, Fruit Tart, Guacamole, Pizza, Rose Quartz, Wine
- Mark - Egg Custard, Hot Chocolate, Shiitake Mushrooms, Tomato Soup
- Millie - Assorted Grilled Platter, Melon, Olives, Sugarcane, Seafood Ramen, Vegetable Ramen
- Nina - Banana Fritter, Flower Bouquets, Fruit Juice, Yogurt
- Noah - Clam Chowder, Durian, Gnocchi, Roasted Mushroom, Sunny-side up Eggs, Sushi
- Pablo - Cauliflower Casserole, Fried Rice, Pizza, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Potato Poutine
- Rafael - Fruit Juice, Onyx, Sashimi
- Raj - Apple Pie, Coffee, Coffee Bean, Donut, Green Tea, Luwak Coffee, Luwak Coffee Beans, Tea Leaf
- Scott - Egg Custard, Falafel, Geode, Giant Stingray, King Red Arowana, Mayonnaise, Yellow Moray Eel
- Suki - Diamond, Green Smoothie, Minced Jackfruit Pie, Pearl
- Surya - Herbed Tempeh, Lodeh, Melon, Pufferfish, Wild Mushroom Polenta
- Theo - Bamboo Shoot, Coconut Drink, Fish Taco, Fruit Juice, King Red Arowana, Whole Coconut Drink, Whole Coconut Milk, Yellow Moray Eel
- Wakuu - Cenil, Chocolate Chip Muffin, Mango, Salmon, Vegan Taco
- Yuri - Chocolate Chip Muffin, Fish Sandwich, Frogfish, Green Curry, Lobster, Red Curry, Spicy Sauerkraut
- Zarah - Azurite, Grilled Fish, Hummus, Rambutan, Serpentine
Best Gifts for Coral Island's Friendship-Only Characters
While players cannot romance these characters, they may still want to get close to them in order to witness their events and have some great friends around the island. Thankfully, many of these giftable items are either inexpensive, easy to make at home, or one of the many crops Coral Island players should be growing anyway.
- Anne - Carrot, Fruit Juice, Fried Tempeh, Green Tea, Hummus, Kimchi, Sunflower
- Antonio - Coffee, Serabi
- Archie - Basil Pesto Pasta, Burrito, Fish Taco, Gems (all), Ice Cream, Pumpkin, Rock
- Betty - Cauliflower, Daffodil, Green Tea, Red Velvet Cake
- Bree - Fish Taco, Jackfruit, Vegan Taco
- Connor - Bok Choy, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Sake, White Truffle Oil
- Dinda - Fresh Salad, Flower Bouquet, Melon, Pearl
- Dippa - Beet, Hash browns, Hawaiian Pizza, Morel, Radish
- Eleanor - Birdwing Butterfly, Firefly, Green Tea, Lychee, Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Puss Moth, Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
- Emily - Almond Oil, Assorted Grilled Platter, Olive Oil, Sautéed Chard
- Emma - Coffee, Cotton Cloth, Fish Taco, Green Tea, Hot Cocoa, Pineapple, Pumpkin, Shells (all), Upside-Down Cake, Vegan Taco
- Erika - Cane Nectar, Jam, Iris, Pepper and Mushroom Flatbread, Red Curry
- Frank - Avocado, Bell Pepper, Fruit Juice, Hot Pepper, Pancakes, Roasted Almond, Sunny-Side Up Eggs
- Jack - Artichoke, Fruit Tart, Kimchi, Lettuce
- Jim - Sashimi, Seafood Ramen, Shiitake Mushroom, Sushi, Wasabi
- Joko - Banana Fritter, Coffee, Edamame, Fried Rice, Pineapple, Sautéed Chard, Yogurt
- Kira - Flower Bouquets, Orchid, Osmium Bar
- Lily - Bonsai, Cheese, Kimchi, Omurice, Onigiri, Spring Frittata, Sunflower, Taro Root, Wine
- Ling - Silver Kelp, Spring Frittata
- Oliver - Basil Pesto Pasta, Ice Cream, Seafood, Ramen, Smoked Salmon
- Paul - Chestnuts, Hummus, Strawberry
- Randy - Apple, Coffee, Lobster, Wine
- Sam - Black Truffle, Blueberry, Cactus, Fruit Juice, Fruit Tart, Jackfruit, White Truffle
- Sunny - Roasted Mushroom
- Takeba - Bambo Shoot, Green Tea
- Valentina - Basil Pesto Pasta, Fish Taco, Green Curry, Hot Chocolate, Pumpkin Pie, Red Curry, Starfruit
- Walter - Carrot, Sake, Sweet Potato
- Wataru - Angelfish, Black Phantom Ghost Fish, Catfish, Mandarin, Pufferfish, Rainbow Fish
- Zoe - Cookies, Fruit Juice, Ice Cream
Sadly, Coral Island players cannot yet give any of the animals on the island any presents. There are four friendly critters that hang out around town, including the cats Butter and Peanut, as well as two dogs named Taco and Bon Bon.
Coral Island is available for PC, PC Game Pass, and coming soon to Nintendo Switch.
Source: Kickstarter, Coral Island Official, Wiki, Official Art Tumbler