How to play
TINY HARBOR is a cosy island game in low-poly 3D. You keep a small island with a campfire, a wooden dock, a striped lighthouse on its own islet and a canvas tent that leaks. Walk with W A S D or the arrows and press E (or click) to use whatever you are next to. F eats, J opens the journal, Q goes in and out of your home and Esc pauses. A day lasts seven minutes, and the tide comes in and goes out twice in that time.
Wood comes from trees: four chops fell one, it drops three logs, and the stump grows back in under two minutes. Food matters too. Your belly empties in about five and a half minutes; a raw fish fills it by 15, a clam by 10 and a fish cooked at the campfire by 35. Nobody starves, but an empty belly makes you walk and chop slowly.
To fish, face deep enough water and press E to cast. When the bobber dives, press E to hook it, then hold the button to lift the green zone and let go to drop it. Keep the fish inside the zone until the bar fills, or it gets away.
Boats are your shops. Three trading boats sail in by day and pull up at the end of your dock. Tie one up at the bollard within 45 seconds and it stays for 110 seconds while you trade. At night they wait out at sea instead. Climb the stairs inside the lighthouse to take over the lamp, steer the beam with the mouse or W A S D, and lead a waiting boat between the rocks to the harbour mouth. Getting it there pays 15 coins; three hits on the rocks and it turns back.
Tips and strategy
- Sell to the boat that wants it. Each boat pays half as much again for one thing: the Puffin for fish, Marigold for shells and clams, Old Oak for wood. Hold your fish until the Puffin comes in.
- Beachcomb at low tide. The falling water leaves clams, shells and driftwood on the wet sand, and you collect them by walking over them. When the tide comes back, whatever is left washes away.
- Fish by place and time. There are eleven kinds. Cod want deep water like the end of the dock, flounder the shallows at low tide, sea bass high tide, salmon dawn and dusk, and the octopus only bites at night.
- Fish in the rain. Fish bite faster in rain, and the Storm Eel, worth 30 coins, only bites in a storm. Bait from the Puffin halves the wait for your next five casts.
- Buy the Sturdy Rod early. For 60 coins the green zone gets much bigger and you get a little longer to strike after a bite.
- Watch for storms. A storm lifts the sea, so a storm at high tide floods the beach and washes over the dock. No new boats come, and arriving boats need the lamp even by day. Afterwards the beach fills with driftwood and shells.
What's in it
Your home grows from the Tent to a Shack (12 wood), a Cabin (30 wood) and a two-floor Cottage (60 wood and 50 coins). Walls, roof, door and trim each take a paint: four are free, Marigold sells eight and three are only sold on Coral Cove. There are ten outdoor extras, from flower boxes and a shell path to a porch lantern and a weathervane. Inside, B makes furniture: sixteen pieces, from a bed and a stove to a fish tank, placed on a grid, plus six more bought on the islands.
A bridge to the lighthouse costs 20 wood; before that you wade a sandbar at low tide. A sailboat from the boatyard costs 40 wood and 30 coins and takes you to three far islands, each with a village, villagers to chat to and a trader who pays double or more: Old Mae on Pebble Isle for fish, Fennick on Driftwood Cay for wood and Miss Opal on Coral Cove for shells and clams. The journal holds sixteen goals with coin rewards and a fish book.
Questions
Can I lose?
No. Nobody dies and nothing is taken away. The worst is a slow walk on an empty belly, a boat that leaves before you tie it up, or shells lost to the tide.
How do I catch the Lantern Fish?
It is the rarest fish, worth 60 coins, and the last goal in the journal. It only bites in deep water, at night, at high tide. The Puffin's Golden Lure makes rare fish turn up far more often.
How do I skip the night?
After dark, sleep from the Home menu at your front door or in a bed you have made. You wake at dawn the next morning, a little hungrier.
My sailboat is stuck. What do I do?
Use "Bring the boat home" in the pause menu. The boat also returns to your dock every time the game loads.
Does it save?
Yes, in your own browser: house, paints, furniture, tools, coins, fish book and goals. Clearing your browser's site data clears it.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. An on-screen stick walks or steers, a USE button does what E does, and there are buttons for eating, the journal, pausing and furniture.