Welcome to another Coral Island update!
Today we'll be showcasing the "Ocean & Kisses" 1.3 content update!
First things first, public beta date:
Open Testing
When: May 04, 2026 to May 15, 2026
Who: Open to all Steam players!
How: No access code is required. Once we announce on Discord that testing is open on May 04, 2026, right-click Coral Island in your Steam Library, go to Properties -> Game Versions & Betas, then select the public beta branch to access the 1.3 update.
Join our Discord for more information!
We don't have a release date for 1.3 yet. And honestly, this beta wasn't even part of the plan. We were going to drop this blog next month (May) with a bit more content built out, but we realized we already had plenty to share, so we moved everything up. Once the beta is running, we'll have a much better view of where the game is and what's still buggy. That's when we'll be able to give you a release date.
Relationship
Meet the New Dateables!
We're excited to share that Agung and Raina are joining the lineup of dateable NPCs!
A heads-up: unlike other dateables, they only become dateable in the mid-to-late game (Agung is mid-game, Raina is late-game).
Agung
Does he need an intro? Probably not. Agung is a gatekeeper for the Merfolk Kingdom, patrolling the waters with his partner-in-duty, Denali. He's grown up on stories of what humans do to the ocean, so when you show up, he's watching. He's loyal to the Kingdom down to his scales, and his first instinct toward newcomers is always suspicion.
Even after he warms up to you, don't be surprised if a simple favor gets met with a raised eyebrow and an interrogation. Give him time, and the wit softens into something warmer. Not all land-dwellers are bad, as it turns out. Some of them are even worth talking to.
Raina
Raina came to Coral Island on Pufferfish Corp's payroll. She's not here for the cause, she's here because it pays, and honest money is a nice change of pace. She keeps her heart guarded, but charm her enough, and you'll learn what's behind it. Red velvet cake is a good start.
A Note on Agung's Character
While testing Agung as a dateable, something came up that we want to address directly. We've seen readings of Agung as asexual, and we want to be honest with you: that wasn't our intention when we wrote him, and we don't feel right claiming representation we didn't actually write.
Agung was written as a flirty guy who just isn't interested in dating anyone: not the player, not the other merfolk. That's still who he is. To preserve that, we've kept his "flirty but not looking" dialogue locked under 8 hearts. The romance route only opens at 9 hearts and above.
What that means: he's still the same Agung. Charming, teasing, not actively looking. But if you put in the time, if you impress him... maybe you're different. Maybe you're the exception.
We love this character, and we want him to feel like himself while also giving players who've been hoping for this route a real way in.
Why now?
Agung was always planned to be a dateable alongside the other dateable merfolk. But at the time, we didn't have the resources and time to make it happen. It came down to Denali or Agung, the first two merfolk designs. And we chose Denali. There wasn't a deep reason. We just had to pick one.
Over the years, we watched how much you came to love Agung. We couldn't say anything earlier as we didn't know how the game was going to do, and we wanted to be sure we had the resources before making promises.
So once we delivered our Kickstarter romanceable stretch goals (the extra rosters, etc.), we knew we could finally give Agung his shot. And alongside him, there's Raina, another character you've come to love.
So what the heck. We love her too.
THE WAIT IS OVER! THANK YOU for sticking around! We hope Agung and Raina steal your heart the way they stole ours. It's been really fun working on them.
Quick Note for Steam Beta Testers
Agung and Raina won't be available as romance options during the public beta.
Agung is locked at 8 hearts (same as live build).
Raina's heart levels are fully locked. You might see a few spoiler hints in the beta, but it won't be the full thing.
Their complete romance routes will roll out with the official 1.3 launch.
NPC Hangout Invite
It's no longer just you doing all the asking. The singles of Coral Island can now invite YOU on hangouts too. Because one-sided relationships get pretty dull.
[For you, Alice, I got two.]
New event: wedding anniversary
Pro tip 1, in-game and IRL: anniversaries matter, people. We've got your back on this one. Your spouse delivers a special anniversary dialogue, and you'll get a 2x mastery EXP buff for the day (assuming you remember to say hi). Bonus: gift points are doubled!
Forget at your own risk.
[Wedding anniversary dynamic dialogue]
[Wedding anniversary special buff]
Friendly dev note: UI is a placeholder for now. A prettier version is on the way!
Jealousy & attention system
Pro-tip 2: relationships take work. Marriage isn't a one-and-done deal. Your spouse has feelings, and if you start slacking: skipping kisses, forgetting birthdays, never giving gifts, you'll see it. We've added a jealousy system and attention-seeking behaviors that trigger both before and after marriage.
Jealousy: Think they don’t notice? Your spouses do now. Give too much attention to other dateables, and little birds might tell them.
[Jealousy line]
Not into the drama? We get it.
Toggle it off. No jealousy for you.
[The toggle only disables jealousy.]
Attention-seeking behavior: This is what attention-seeking behavior looks like: neglect your spouse, and they might start sulking!
[Leah's mad at me again]
Merfolk Festival
The Festival
The Merfolk Festival runs Summer 19–21, held deep in the Merfolk Kingdom. To attend, you'll need access to the Kingdom and the Seal of Naga. It's packed with stalls you won't see anywhere else, worth the swim down.
[Dance Dance Reeflution]
Some of the stalls you'll find at the Merfolk Festival:
[Princess Miranjani's Collection]
[Sculptor stall]
[Cho Oyu's potion stall]
Save System Update
Character slots
You can now have up to 10 character slots. No more worrying about running out. If you want to start fresh, just delete an old save to make room.
[Eriska is rich]
Jump right into a character or load a game and choose from a list of saves.
[Broke farmer save slots]
Manual save
You can now save manually whenever you want! Pro tip 3: manually save into different slots to effectively copy your progress. Perfect for anyone who wants to date around and marry different NPCs.
[Marry in peace]
Auto save
The game now autosaves when you enter a building, go into the mines or dive sites, or teleport.
[Auto-save is here!]
Loading a save
To load a save, open the Esc menu and choose your save from Load Game.
[Easy peasy lemon squeezy]
Multiplayer Improvements
Underwater Marriage Between Players
Don't see anyone you like among the singles? Marry your real-life partner underwater. Sometimes there really is just that one person, isn't it?
Player-to-Player interaction
[Waiting for a response, because consent is cool.]
[I like you IRL, I like you in Coral Island]
Other improvements
[The status bar in Multiplayer shows when players are sleeping.]
In Multiplayer, sleeping will recharge stamina. You can sleep while your friends keep playing and wake up the same day. Just one catch, at least one other player has to stay awake. If everyone sleeps at once, you'll all wake up the next morning.
[Napping has come to Coral Island!]
New additions & QoL
Improved Mechanics & Color Variants for Ranch Animals
We've added new color variants to these ranch animals:
You'll unlock all the color variants once you reach Rank A.
The pink cow, rainbow cow, and rainbow chicken are the popular choices around the studio. The rainbow cow, especially, since it reminds some of the devs of their childhood ice cream (Paddle Pop). Hope you love them!
[Paddle Pop spotted]
We had a blast making these. Some of these colors are an acquired taste, but apparently, there's a market for them!
[SPEED]
[Jack, the rancher]
These colorful animals aren't just cute, they're productive too! Take good care of these cutie patooties and they have a chance to produce Starlet Milk and Starlet Eggs, our new special products. (OK, we ran out of name ideas. Naming them after the town felt right, since they only exist here in Starlet Town. "Coral Milk" doesn't sound as appealing.)
Starlet Milk and Starlet Eggs sell for more than regular milk and eggs, so think twice before tossing them into a recipe. Maybe stick with regular eggs for your fried rice.
Interactive Decor
Your home is about to feel a lot more personal. Display fish in an aquarium, bugs in an insectarium, and flowers in a vase. Fish Tanks, Insectariums, and Vases are available at the Furniture Store in Starlet Town.
Build the space that feels like yours.
[Fish Tank, Large]
[Insectarium, Large]
[Vase]
A few things to know:
You can mix different species in the same tank. Butterflies and ladybugs can hang out together, no problem.
Fish and insects automatically scale to fit the tank size.
Fish Tanks and Insectarium both come in three sizes: Small, Medium, and Large. And the bigger the tank, the more you can fit inside.
Sawee Hibernation Mode
We heard some of you aren't thrilled about our little green friend, a.k.a. the cursed turnip, a.k.a. weird onion, a.k.a. a nightmare with a dead-fish stare (see Exhibit A), wandering around the farm. Fair enough!
Now you can send Sawee into hibernation. Your Sawee will snooze inside a cozy Seed Maker with others of its kind. Apparently, there's a whole world in there we don't know about. You can wake Sawee up any time by interacting with the Seed Maker.
[Sweet dreams, Sawee]
[Interact with the Seed Maker whenever you want Sawee back.]
[Exhibit A: Sawee slander]
Festival Pamphlet Improvements
We cleaned up the festival pamphlet! The writing is aligned, and the numbers now follow a counterclockwise order. Way easier to read.
Plus, two more upgrades:
[Available all day during the festival]
[No more mess!]
Harvest Faceoff Improvements
No more dragging to populate the Starlet Display at Harvest Festival! Just click and it auto-populates. Should've done this sooner, but hey, better late than never!
[Saves 3 seconds AND your wrist. Efficient [i]and easy on the joints.]
[Get ready to cry, Bobby]
Hold Button Controls
You can now hold the button instead of clicking every time. Less clicking, less strain. This update is all about joint health.
[Look at that farmer]
[Joint health era]
Buyer's Remorse, Solved!
Sometimes you buy the wrong thing. Sometimes you grab more than you need. It happens. Hover over the return icon, and you'll get your money back, no questions asked.
[Thanks, Sam!]
And many more!
There's so much more we couldn't squeeze into this blog without it becoming a novel. Here's a quick rundown of what else is coming:
Trap markers on the map
New hangout locations
Better heart event tracking
Autofeeder placement improvements
House storage increases as you upgrade the house
Pajamas for all NPC's
Discoverable cooking recipes on land and in the sea
Speech bubbles for merfolk
Slice of life cutscenes for merfolk
Improved Town Rank A flow
Hangouts are now available in weather (some locations are weather dependent)
FAQ
Q: When is the Switch release?
A: Stairway Games doesn’t have anything to share on this just yet, but we'll let you know the moment we do.
Q: I’m excited for the Kids Grow Up. When is it going to be released? Gimme dates!!!!
A: We hear you! We don't have an ETA for the 1.4 (Kids Grow Up) update yet. As soon as we have a date, you'll have it. We want to be sure before we commit. Right now, our focus is on 1.3. One day at a time.
Q: Will there be a breakup mechanic or divorce in the game? Or polyamory mode instead?
A: We did look into it! The short version: divorce and breakup systems get messy fast and can introduce a lot of bugs. Doing it properly would also mean a ton of extra content: NPC reactions, different outcomes, new cutscenes, etc. For instance, divorcing Pablo would have very different consequences for Rafael (Pablo's brother) than divorcing Macy would. There are just too many branches to make it feel right.
That said, the new save system ended up being our workaround. You can branch your saves and explore different relationships that way. It's not the same, I know. But it's the closest we could get without breaking the game or piling on tons of new content.
Q: Will it have split-screen or local co-op?
A: No. We tried. We just couldn't get local/couch co-op to work the way we wanted it to. Sorry, couch gamers.
Q: Will we get more decor items like the ones from NPC houses? Or more outfits?
A: Nope, no new decor or outfits in 1.3. Nothing in the works at the moment, but hey, never say never.
Q: Will the hair be adjusted when using hats?
A: In a perfect world, yes, we'd love to accommodate as many hairstyles as possible. But realistically, no. With our current hat system, every hat already has 3 versions: one for no hair, one for short hair, and one for long hair. That's 3 separate meshes per hat, and adding more would slow us down significantly in other areas of the game.
Q: After Raina and Agung, will we get more dateables? Derek? Karen?
A: Probably not. Adding Agung and Raina was a lot of fun. The team loved it, but it's a huge amount of work, and it tends to introduce more bugs than we'd like. So for now, the lineup is set. If no one in the cast catches your eye, well, a life of solitude isn't so bad. Buy chickens ;)
Q: Does manual saving work in Multiplayer?
A: No, manual saving does not work in Multiplayer. We tried implementing it, but couldn’t get it working properly in Multiplayer.
Q: Will there be a Coral Island mobile version?
A: No plans for mobile. The game couldn't run on phones (we tried).
Q: Will Coral Island be available on Mac?
A: No plans for Mac.
This FAQ has a lot of "we tried and failed" in it. Sorry about that. It never feels good to miss the mark, but we’re doing our best. We love Coral Island and the community it has built. If you have other questions, drop them in our Discord. We're always keeping an eye there.
Thank you for reading,
Stairway Games
