Family Island – Core Game Redesign
Family Island is a casual mobile farming and adventure game where players help a modern Stone Age family rebuild life after a volcanic eruption. By farming, crafting, cooking, and exploring, players create a vibrant island life filled with hidden treasures, engaging storylines, and a relaxing pace that keeps them coming back.
About the Game
Product Design Lead
UX/UI Design
Micro-Interactions
Market Research
My Role
Company
Moon Active
Disconnected Game Loops – There was no clear connection between the Home Island (the core experience) and the rotating adventure islands (the events). Both shared the same energy currency, creating competition between the two rather than synergy.
Home Island Stagnation – Players focused almost entirely on adventure islands and expeditions, neglecting their Home Island due to a lack of meaningful progression.
As the game evolved, we identified key design issues that impacted player engagement:
The Challenge
Lack of Clear Goals – Players lacked a sense of advancement, making it harder to stay invested long term.
Strengthen core progression on Home Island
Create clear, interconnected loops between core and events
Make the experience more casual-friendly and rewarding
Our Goals
Solution 1: Family House – A Central Progression Anchor
Split into four narrative eras in the game: Hay, Wooden (section header above), Stone, and Modern.
We introduced the Family House - a key building on Home Island.
Upgrading the Family House unlocked:
Higher energy capacity
New avatars and storylines
Access to advanced buildings
This gave players a clear sense of purpose and progression, tying together crafting, building, and exploration.
Here’s a glimpse into the user flow and wireframes I designed during the development of the Family House feature.
Solution 2: The Beavers’ Grove – Connecting Core & Events
To create a healthy loop between adventure and Home Island, we designed the Beavers’ Grove:
Players collect “beaver food” while exploring adventure islands
Feeding the beavers produces unique resources for Home Island upgrades
Upgrading buildings and the Family House unlocks further rewards, driving players back into the events loop
This adorable feature bridged the gap between the core and the events, keeping both areas of the game relevant and engaging.
Beaver character design - sketches created by me and the art team:
Beavers Grove UI design test:
Here’s the initial user flow and wireframes for a mine concept, where players would gather resources for their Home Island before we pivoted to the Beavers’ Grove.
Mine concept:
Final Beavers Grove design on map:
After designing the new game flow, our next challenge was crafting a seamless FTUE (First-Time User Experience) for new players, while also creating a migration flow for existing players. The goal was to introduce the revamped systems in a way that felt intuitive, engaging, and respectful of their current progress. We focused on balancing clarity and excitement for newcomers with a smooth, non-intrusive transition for veteran players - ensuring they could enjoy the updated experience without feeling overwhelmed or disrupted. Here are some of the flows and screens we designed to onboard both audiences effectively.
Migration & Marketing
Here’s a look at early FTUE screens and concept sketches we created during the process:
Marketing
Here are some of the marketing screens we designed to support the game redesign launch:
UX/UI Enhancements
We refined the Home Island interface to improve clarity without alienating existing players. Subtle UI changes and clearer progression paths made the island more intuitive, while maintaining the familiar aesthetic players loved.
Here are some wireframes showcasing planned UX/UI improvements for key screens. These changes were ultimately not implemented due to the project’s scale.
This redesign reinvigorated Home Island, increased retention, and created a smoother, more satisfying loop across all game systems - encouraging players to invest in both core and meta gameplay.
The Impact
The 2025 redesign of Family Island introduced a modern progression system and a reimagined economy that successfully revitalized the core gameplay. By connecting Home Island to adventure content through the Family House and Beavers’ Grove, we created a seamless, engaging loop that resonated with players. Public data shows the game maintained its position in the US top-10 grossing casual games, with an estimated $10M in monthly revenue and strong peer recognition across the industry.