Quick Question and Answer Guide to the Island

Last updated on 16 January

The same questions are being asked again and again by players and although I have created an entire General Guide for the Island, it might be useful to post quick answers to the most frequently asked questions here.

My General Guide, including details about Missions, Expansions, all Island Items and so on can be found below or by following this link:

General Guide to Island

How do I unlock the Island?
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Answer:  To unlock the Island, you must complete all six pieces of a Puzzle.  Each piece of the Puzzle contains a series of specific tasks that must be completed or else 'skipped' by paying RC instead.  Note that the Island is an option for advanced Farmers.  Many of the Puzzle Pieces include tasks that represent significant progress on your Seaside Farm, such as the need to have upgraded your Warehouse to Level 4 or to have a total of 4 Batch Production Slots.  If you are interested in unlocking the Island option but have not made sufficient progress in your game, take a look at the Puzzle pieces and simply perform one at a time until you have met the most important requirements.  Note as well that the Island is an EXPENSIVE Option.  You will need a tremendous amount of Coins to do anything there.

What are Dev Points and how do I earn them?
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Answer: Dev Points are one of the key elements in making any progress on the Island.  You cannot earn them until you make the Island expansion that unlocks the Helipad and Helicopter Orders.  You then will be able to complete Helicopter Orders daily in order to earn Dev Points.   Dev Points can be earned by completing specific Island Missions as well.

Each Helicopter Order requires a total of two different items either from the Seaside Farm or from the Island.  There will be a total of four different Orders on the Board at any given time.  The Dev Point Reward will depend on the number of Orders filled from midnight to midnight.  The first two Orders carry a Reward of 10 Dev Points each.  The next five Orders that you fill carry a Reward or 5 Dev Points each.  Following that, the next 5 carry a Reward of 3 Dev Points each.  Then, the next five will have a Reward of 2 Dev Points each.  Finally, the Orders will carry a Reward of only 1 Dev Point each.  Any Orders that remain on the Board at midnight will have the Dev Point Reward reset to 10.

In the middle of February, a new option in the form of 'Landmark Decorations' that are crafted with materials obtained, inter alia, from the new Mine, was introduced.  When you make any of these Decorations for the first time, you will earn a significant number of Dev Points. 

To see how many Dev Points you have earned, tap on the purple Star on the top left of your screen that shows your current Level of experience.  A screen will be displayed that shows the name of your Farm, the number of XP Points you need to reach the next Level, how many Neighbours have 'Liked' your Farm and finally, how many Dev Points you have earned.

Note that Items that are made on the original Seaside Farm must be transported to the Island before they can be used either to fill a Helicopter Order or to use in any Island Machine or Building.  Transport of Items to and from the Island is made by zeppelin.

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How and why do I transport Items?
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Seaside Farm Animals, Trees and Machines cannot be placed on your Island nor can Island Animals, Trees and Machines be placed on your original Seaside Farm.  The constant transport of Items to and from each Farm is a vital component of Island gameplay.  In my game, three out of the four Helicopter Orders displayed on the Board ALWAYS require Items from the original Seaside Farm.  You therefore must transport these Items by zeppelin before you can fill the Order.

Many of the Island Machines require ingredients that can be harvested or produced only on the orignal Seaside Farm.  Again, these Items must be transported by zeppelin before they can be used.  The Seaside Barn and the Island Barn are separate.

At this point in time, there are only a few ways to use Island Items on the original Seaside Farm.  One of these is the Beauty Shop where some ingredients can be made only on the Island.  If, however, you wish to sell Items directly from a Barn, it is only the Seaside Barn that will give you this option.  You therefore would have to transport Island items to the Seaside Farm if you wish to sell them.

Tip:  One of the first Seaside Items that you will need in large quantities is Honey.  Another is Wool, produced by any Sheep on the Seaside Farm.  Goat Milk and Peacock Feathers are needed if you wish to use the Yogurt Machine and Hat Machine later.  Begin use of your Zeppelins to transport Honey and Wool as soon as possible for future use.

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What Seaside Items are needed in quantity?
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This topic is addressed briefly in other sections but it may be useful to list the items here that are needed in the greatest quantity and discuss why and where they are needed.

Honey is ALWAYS needed to operate two of the Island Machines.  You cannot use the Pie Machine or the Yogurt Machine without Honey.  As one of the Island goals is the achievement of 3 Star Mastery, the total Quantity of Honey needed to do this with respect to each Machine is: 80 + 600 + 1800 = 2480 Honey for each Machine.  That means effectively that you will need a total of 4960 Honey to achieve 3 Star Mastery of both the Yogurt Machine and the Pie Machine.

Goat Milk is a required ingredient in the Yogurt Machine.  To earn 3 Star Mastery of the Yogurt Machine, you therefore will need 2480 Goat Milks to be made and transported from the Seaside Farm.

The Hat Machine requires Camel Hair and one type of Seaside item in order to produce any Hat.  The default item is Peacock Feathers.  With 1 Star Mastery, you will be able to use Goose Feathers as well.  With 2 Star Mastery, you will be able to use Ostrich Feathers.  You will need 300 Peacock Feathers to complete one Island task at some point.  If yiou can ship as many Peacock Feathers as possible, you will be able to complete Island tasks and earn Mastery Points at the same time.  The total number of Feathers (of any type) needed to achieve 3 Star Mastery would be 2480 Feathers.  At full 3 Star Mastery, you will be able to use Horse Hair instead of Feathers to make the Stetson Hat required to complete an Island task.

At 2560 Dev Points, you finally will be able to begin to use your Tea Master as you will be able to grow the Tea Plant that is a required ingredient in any type of Tea.  You will not be able to make the Mint Tea that is the first type of Tea listed as Mint is unlocked only when you reach 2800 Dev Points.  You will be able to make Lemon Tea, however, provided you have shipped some Lemons from the Seaside Farm.  A total of 80 Lemons would be needed to achieve 1 Star Mastery but you can earn 3 Star Mastery if you have a total of 2480 Lemons on the Island.  Move forward by making Lemon Tea until you achieve 1 Star Mastery in any case, when you will be able to make Cranberry Tea using an Island ingredient instead.

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How do the zeppelins work?
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The zeppelins should not be confused with the Helicopter even though Felicia may speak of both in the same way.  Helicopter Orders are specific and each Order takes 20 minutes.  Each Helicopter Order has a specific Coin value and is worth a specific number of Dev Points.

Zeppelin transport on the other hand, is open to any Item that you wish to transport and you are free to choose the path.  You will have the use of two Zeppelins when you unlock your Island but you can build three more.  Each Item takes a specific amount of time to transport and there can be a significant difference in transport times.  Crops tend to take the least amount of time, but transport time will depend on quantity as well.

For example, each Grape that you transport from the Seaside Farm to the Island takes 1 minute to reach its destination.  Each Island Crop that you transport to the Seaside likewises takes 1 minute.  Thus, 50 Grapes will take 50 minutes.

Each portion of Honey, on the other hand, takes 4 minutes to transport from the Seaside to the Island.  If, therefore, you choose to ship 90 Honey, that Zeppelin will be out of commission for other Orders for more than 6 Hours.

When you have only two Zeppelins, it is a good idea to limit the number of Items that you transport at any given point in time as one of your goals will be to earn Dev Points by completing Helicopter Orders.  Helicopter Orders usually do not require more than 6 or 7 items of any sort.  They do include Cooked Dishes, however, which require more time than Crops or Tree Fruits to transport.  Each Cooked Dish requires 8 Minutes to transport.  If you need six of that Cooked Dish for a Helicopter Order, it will take 48 Minutes to transport.  As 3 out of 4 Helicopter Orders may require Items from the Seaside Farm, you will need both of your Zeppelins to tranport the Items needed to fill one Order.

Finally, the way to use a Zeppelin is by finding the Zeppelin and tapping on it or by tapping on the Barn Icon in the lower left of your screen.  There is a difference between these two methods, however.  If you tap on the Barn, your only option will be to transport any Item in the Island Barn to the other Farm.  When you access the Seaside Barn, your only option will be to Sell any Item.  If you tap on the Zeppelin, however, a Menu will open that will allow you to choose tranport in either direction.  That Menu will display the current uses of your Zeppelins and the number of hours and/or minutes that each must travel before current transport is completed.

There is one other distinction between the two methods as well.  If you tap on the Barn, you will see ALL the items in that Barn.  If you tap on the Zeppelin, however, only a selection of the Items that you have in either Barn will be displayed.   This can be frustrating when you are trying to fill Helicopter Orders.

For example, if a Helicopter Order requires 2 Orange Crumble and you have none on your Island, tapping on the Zeppelin and then on the Cooked Dishes icon will open the Menu that displays the Cooked Dishes you have on your Seaside Farm.  Even if you have large quantities of Orange Crumble in your Seaside Barn, however, you may or may not see this in the Zeppelin Menu.  It is only if you yourself travel to the Seaside Farm and tap on your Barn there that you definitely will find the Orange Crumbles stored there.

The Zeppelin Items Menu therefore is a nice shortcut when it works.  If you do not find the Item you need when you open that Menu, however, you need to go to the Farm where the Barn is situated to discover truly whether or not the Item is stored there.

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Zeppelin Tips
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When you first unlock the Island, you may think that you need EVERYTHING but in fact, as time goes on, you may become weary of the constant zeppelin movement in both directions.  Additional Zeppelins always must be built and Materials become increasingly expensive as the list of materials begins to include such items as Wrenches and Screwdrivers.  I have four out of five of the Zeppelins and it is MORE than sufficient for my needs.  You have infinite time to complete the Missions, infinite time to unlock new items by earning Dev Points.  Why rush?

Some Items are needed regularly, however.  I always try to send some Honey and Goat Milk to the Island on a constant basis.

To replenish your Coin totals, you will find it useful to send Island Items to the Seaside Farm in order to be able to sell them.  I suggest that you send the most valuable items.  Zucchini Bread, made in the Flavoured Bread Machine, is a good choice as it sells for 400 Coins.  You have to process your Zucchini in the Dehydrator first, however.

Single Ingredient Products that have a good sale value include some of the Essential Oils.  In many cases, the ingredient has to be transported from the Seaside but even Honeysuckle Oil, which sells for 103 Coins, is a better choice than many Island products.  Peacock Hats sell for 226 Coins, another fairly good choice as, after completing some of the Island Missions, you will have an enormous stockpile of these!

Originally, I let some of my zeppelins idle while waiting for a new list of Helicopter Orders.  This was an error.  You need to remember that you always have the option to turn back a zeppelin at any time, cancelling the transport.  Zeppelin transport is one of the few Island options that is free, so it never hurts to cancel the trip.  Better though to have the zeppelin in use while waiting to see if you need any item desperately!

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Where do I find Materials to build Machines?
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Whenever you purchase or obtain any Machine on the Island, you will find that it is in an unfinished state.  To complete it, you usually will need four different Materials in specific quantitites.  One of the four types of Materials needed usually can be requested as a Free Gift from Neighbours, but the other three types must be crafted on the Island.  The Building where Materials are crafted is the Hardware Store.

You can have a total of four Hardware Stores.   This is one situation where more than one can be extremely useful, given the number of Materials you will need.  Each Material that is crafted in your Hardware Store has its own Coin price, its own Mastery level and its own time frame for completion.

The first Item in the Hardware Store menu is the Crosscut Saw.  This costs 25 Coins to make and will be completed almost instantly.  You need saws to harvest any Wood Trees on the Island.

The next couple of items will be used to complete the first Machines you buy or find on the Island.   Start to craft as many Nuts and Lag Bolts as you can as soon as possible because you will need extraordinary quantities of both.

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How do I unlock new Machines?
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Unlocking new Crops, Animals, Trees and Machines always is based on Dev Point totals.  If you wish to purchase any new Crop, Tree, Animal or Machine in the Market, you will be required to meet its Dev Point requirement first.

There is one other way to acquire a new Machine, however, and that is by completing a specific Island Expansion.  When you look at unexplored parts of the Island, you will see a number of unfinished Machines.  Complete the expansion where the Machine is placed to obtain that Machine.

Even when the first Machine of any type is obtained through Expansion, however, you will be unable to buy a second Machine of that type unless you have met the Dev Point requirement.

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What Crops should I grow first?
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As on your original Seaside Farm, Crops are used both to feed Animals and as ingredients for Products made in Machines.  Growing Crops will earn you XP but it will not increase your Dev Points.  Nor will Tree Harvests, Animal Harvests or Machine Production have any effect on your Dev Points.  You do need to produce as many Products as possible in your Machines to advance your Mastery of those Machines.

If you cannot use a Crop in the early stages of the game, there is not much point in growing it in quantity.  One Crop that cannot be used in the early stages is Garlic.  The Crops that you will use first probably are Alfalfa, Flax and Cassava.

Alfalfa is used to feed the Angora Goat that produces Mohair.  Mohair can be used in the Spinning Machine to produce your first Yarn in the form of Mohair Yarn.  Remember that production of ANY Item in any Machine will advance your Mastery and that Mastery is the key to unlocking new Items.

Flax is used in the Loom to produce Linen.  You therefore should grow Flax in quantity from the start.

Cassave is used in the Watermill to produce Cassava Flour.  This is another Crop that should be grown in quantity from the start.

Cranberries cannot be used really until you have a Pie Machine or a Dehydrator.  You can grow a few for future use or to create a beautiful display on your Farm, but the three Crops that are needed more at the start are Alfalfa, Flax and Cassava.

Why do my Trees vanish?
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Trees on the Island are divided into two categories.  These are the Fruit Trees and the Wood Trees.  Fruit Trees, once purchased and placed, like Seaside Trees, will remain on your Farm forever unless you sell them.  Wood Trees, on the other hand, have a limited niumber of Harvests.  There are two ways to discover how many Harvests any Wood Tree will yield.  The first is by tapping on the little information icon in the form of an 'i' when you access the Tree in the Market.  This will give you the following details about the tree: the product that it produces when cut, the number of times it can be harvested, the number of hours between harvests and the value of the Wood it produces.

You can discover how many harvests remain for any Wood Tree placed on your Island Farm by tapping on the actual tree.  You will see a fraction that indicates how many harvests remain out of the total number of possible harvests.  For example, 4/6 indicates that you have harvested the Tree twice and that four out of the total six possible harvests remain.

How Far Can I Go with RC?
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In terms of the Island, even a Player with infinite RC can make only a certain amount of progress by skpping Tasks in Missions and purchasing expansions with RC instead of fulfilling Item requirements.  The fact of the matter is that progress ultimately depends upon Mastery and Dev Points.  Mastery is earned only through the use of your Machines.  Dev Points can be earned both through Mission completion and completion of Helicopter Orders.  You cannot purchase them with RC.

In a single day, from midnight to midnight, the greatest amount of Dev Points you can earn through Helicopter Orders is 78 I believe.  Order Rewards (not the Orders themselves) are reset every Midnight to 10 Dev Points but you only can fill two Orders with that Reward.  The Reward then decreases to 5 Dev Points for the next 5 Orders you complete.  After that, you can complete 5 more Orders with 3 Dev Point Rewards, then 5 more Orders with 2 Dev Points and finally all remaining Orders will carry a value of 1 Dev Point only.   I honestly am not certain as to whether you can keep filling Orders for 1 Dev Point indefinitely until Midnight or not.  I never thought it was worthwhile to do so after completing the 5 Orders with 2 Dev Points.  The point of this is that one cannot earn significantly more than 78 Dev Points each day by filling Helicopter Orders.

The Dev Point value of any Mission depends on that specific Mission.  The first few Missions on the Island have no Dev Point Rewards.  Once you progress through different Mission sequences, you will discover that they will begin to carry Dev Point Rewards.  Beginning with 8 Dev Points, you ultimately can earn 15 Dev Points for completing a more advanced Mission.

Ultimately, the Missions themselves require that you achieve specific Dev Point totals and whether or not you wish to pay RC to 'skip' that requirement is your choice of course.  In some cases, if the next few Missions in the sequence can be completed without meeting that Dev Point total, you may find it worthwhile to skip the Dev Point requirement in that specific Task.  In other cases, however, you will find that the Dev Point requirement for the Mission actually is based upon the need to have unlocked Crops, Trees, Animals or Machines that can be unlocked only when you have achieved that number of Dev Points.
You therefore will find yourself at a standstill where the Missions are concerned until you have earned the Dev Points and there is no way to use RC to do THAT!

Machine Mastery is simply a matter of using the Machine in question.  You can make ANY Item in the Machine to earn Mastery Points.  It usually is best to use Island ingredients rather than being forced to transport ingredients from the Seaside Farm.  1 Star Mastery is earned with a total of 80 Items.  2 Star Mastery requires 600 Items and 3 Star Mastery requires 1800 items.  Again, this is nothing something that you can 'skip' by paying RC.

What is that Volcano on the Island?
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Yes, one of the later expansions does have a smouldering Volcano on the land.  When you have expanded to this point, you will find a working Volcano that produces 6 Power every three hours.

How do I know where to find Ingredients for Island Machines?
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I have made a list of all Machines with their Ingredients.  Each Ingredient includes a description with the Farm where you can find it, method of harvest or production and the amount of time needed to harvest it. Always remember that any Items from the Seaside Farm must be transported to the Island by Zeppelin before they can be used in a Machine there.

Here is the link to the page:

All Island and Seaside Items Needed for Island Machines

What Crops Should I Grow on the Island
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You do not unlock new Crops by growing Crops on the Island.  It is not general XP that will unlock new items, unlike the situation on the Seaside Farm.  It is your Dev Point total that decides whether or not a new Crop, Animal, Tree or Machine will be unlocked.  Your choice of Crops, therefore, should be based, at least at the very start, on whether or not you can use it at once for an Animal or Machine.

The first Animals and Machines you will be able to use are the Watermill, Loom, Spinning Machine and Angora Goat.  Here are the Crops that can be used initially:

Alfalfa:  Feed Alfalfa to the Angora Goat to produce Mohair
Cassava:  Use Cassava in the Watermill to produce Cassava Flour
Flax:  Use Flax in the Loom to produce Linen

Here are the products that can be used initially:

Mohair:  Use the Mohair produced by the Angora Goat in the Spinning Machine

You need to use all Machines constantly to obtain Mastery of them.  It is Mastery that will unlock new Product options in each Machine.

Once you have completed a number of Missions and earned some Dev Points, you will discover that Cranberry probably is the next useful Crop to grow.  It is used in at least three different Machines on the Island.  You can use it in the Yogurt Machine, the Pie Machine and the Dehydrator.  The Dried Cranberry made in the Dehydrator can be used in the Flavoured Bread Machine.

Another Crop that is used in more than one Machine is the Camomile.  Camomile is used in the Essential Oil Machine, the Flower Basket Machine and the Tea Master.  They are more 'advanced' Machines than the ones that use Cranberry, however, and Cranberry will be available sooner.

Although Garlic is available to farmers initially, it cannot be used until you have the Flavoured Bread Machine and 1 Star Mastery of that Machine.  Its only use initially would be to transport it to sell on Seaside.  It costs 88 Coins and sells for 100 Coins.  Your profit therefore would be 12 Coins.  There are other Crops and Items that give more profit in sales.

How do I earn Coins on the Island?
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The Island is extremely expensive, both in farming and in Machine use.  Every Machine that you obtain is unfinished and you will be required to complete it, primarily by making Materials in your Hardware Store.  Every Nut, Lag Bolt, Nail, Wrench and Screwdriver has a Coin cost as well as time factor for completion.  Even if you have saved Millions of Coins when you first unlock the Island, you will find yoru treasury completely depleted quite rapidly.

The only way to earn Coins ON the Island is by completing Helicopter Orders.  Every Helicopter Order has a coin value.  When the Helicopter returns, you will receive the Cois allocated to that Order.  This, unfortunately, offers a fairly limited income.

The way to earn more Coins from Island gameplay is by transporting Items FROM the Island Farm to the Seaside Farm.  You do this by using the Zeppelins.  The real problem with zeppelin transport is twofold:  you only have a limited number of Zeppelins and transport of any Item takes time.

Every Crop that is transported by Zeppelin takes 1 Minute.  If, therefore, you ship 50 Crops, it will take 50 minutes for them to reach the Seaside Farm where they can be sold for Coins.

Every Product, whether it is an Animal or Machine product, takes 5 minutes.  If, therefore, you ship 10 pies, it will take 50 minutes for them to reach the Seaside Farm where they can be sold for Coins.  If you split the Order in half, using two Zeppelins, it will take 25 minutes for each Order of 5 pies to reach Seaside.

As on Seaside, every item has its own specific Coin value.  Products tend to be worth more than Crops, but as you can see, take longer to transport.  It is a good idea to plan your shipments, using the Zeppelins for larger Orders when you are not playing actively and using them for small Orders to fill Item requirements for Helicopter Orders when you are playing actively.

Examples of Items that are worth the effort to transport and sell include Peacock Hats.  Obviously you must transport the Peacock Feathers first from the Seaside Farm, but when the finished Hat is sent back to Seaside, you can earn almost 10,000 Coins (9944 Coins to be precise) for 44 Peacock Hats.

Cost and Profit
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Obviously, the actual Profit made in the sale of any Item is not the Coin amount that you receive.  You must deduct the original Cost of producing the Item before you can see what the actual profit is.  In the case of the Peacock Hat, you must deduct the price of the Camel Hair and the Peacock Feather first.

Camel Hair is made when a Camel eats Cactus.    Cactus costs 55 Coins to plant.  If you transported the Cactus to the Seaside and sold it there, you would receive 57 Coins, a profit of 2 Coins.  By feeding it to a Camel instead and then shipping the Camel Hair, you would receive 60 Coins.  Deduct the original cost of the Cactus and you have a profit of 5 Coins.
A Peacock Feather is produced when a Peacock eats Rice.  The cost of Rice is  95 Coins and a Peacock Feather sells for 132 Coins.   That means that selling a Peacock Feather will net you a profit of 37 Coins.  If you combine Camel Hair and Peacock Feather in the Hat Machine to make a Peacock Hat, you can transport that to the Seaside Farm and sell it for 226 Coins.  Deduct the cost of the original Cactus and Rice, a total of 150 Coins.  The profit is 76 Coins.  That is a far greater profit than you would receive by selling the raw ingredients.

The only problem here is the trouble and time it takes to transport first, the Peacock Feathers TO the Island and afterwards, the Peacock Hats FROM the Island back to the Seaside Farm.  Note, however, that the time it takes for ANY Product is the same.  You therefore are best advised to ship only the most valuable Items to the Seaside if you wish to earn Coins from them.

Perhaps we can compare the profit gained from the sale of Peacock Hats to that gained from the sale of Goose Hats.  The primary ingredient, Camel Hair produced by the Camel when it is fed Cactus is the same.  The only difference will be the cost of the Goose Feather.  A Goose eats Lotus Flower, which costs 35 Coins to plant and takes 4 hours to mature, as opposed to the 14 hours it takes the Rice that the Peacock eats to mature.
If you sell the Lotus Flower, you earn 41 Coins, a profit of 6 Coins.  Feed it to the Goose to produce a Goose Feather that can be sold for 49 Coins, increasing the profit to 14 Coins.  Transport those Feathers instead to the Island and produce a Goose Hat.  The Goose Hat, when transported back to the Seaside Farm, sells for 128 Coins.  Deduct the cost of the Cactus fed to the Camel and the Lotus Flower fed to the Goose and you have a profit of 38 Coins.

The profit made from selling Goose Hats, therefore is about half that of selling Peacock Hats.  The only advantage to the Goose Hat is the fact that Lotus Flowers can be produced much faster than Rice.

How do I earn Mastery?
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Mastery is earned, quite simply, by use of the Machines that you build on the Island.  Constant use of any Machine will allow you to unlock new products as quickly as possible.  Some Machines are harder to keep in use than others.  In particular, a Machine such as the Flavoured Bread Machine or Flower Basket Machine that requires an ingredient that must be harvested first from a Tree, cannot be used constantly without the use of expensive Farm Aides such as Watering Cans to speed your harvests.

The Flavoured Bread Machine requires Chestnut Flour.  Chestnut Flour is made in the Watermill using Chestnuts harvested from the Chestnut Tree.  Buy as many Chestnut Trees as you can as soon as possible, harvest and then produce Chestnut Flour as early as possible in the game even before you have the Flavoured Bread Machine in anticipation of this need.  Do not sell these!

Similarly, the Flower Basket Machine uses Bamboo Baskets as a required ingredient.  Bamboo Baskets are made from Bamboo Shoots fed to a Panda.  As soon as you unlock the Bamboo Tree, therefore, buy as many as possible and begin to harvest them and feed the Panda in anticipation of this need.  Do not sell these!

There are a couple of  Machines on the Island that require a Seaside Item as an ingredient   The first Item that you will need to operate an Island Machine probably is Honey.  Honey is a required ingredient both in the Yogurt Machine and in the Pie Machine.   Another Seaside Item required to operate the Yogurt Machine is Goat Milk.   One other Machine that requires an Island ingredient is the Hat Machine.  You cannot use the Hat Machine without having at least one type of Item produced on the Seaside Farm.  The default item is Peacock Feathers.   Finally, the Hot Dog Machine, like the Hat Machine, requires a Seaside Ingredient in the form of a Sausage produced in the Salami Machine on Seaside.  The default item here is Beef Salami.  I use  the term 'default' to signify the Item that ican be made without any Mastery of the Machine.

There are many Machines that use Seaside Items and many Missions that require the production of Items that use Seaside ingredients.   Early Missions require Wool to be shipped from Seaside and used in the Spinning Machine.

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Why should I continue to work on the Island after I complete all Missions?
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As with any new option in Family Farm Seaside, that option will become increasingly integral to the game as time goes on.  Witness the way that Fishing, the Seafood House and the Beauty Shop have become integral to the time-restricted Missions in the game.  Players who have achieved full 3 Star Mastery of the Island Machines may have noticed that their total number of products made continues to be logged even after achieving that full Mastery.  It is very possible that new Items will be added to these Machines that require a specific total beyond 3 Star Mastery at some point.

The total number of Dev Points needed to unlock EVERY Item on the Island is 4200 Dev Points, required to unlock the Cow Stand Decoration.  Decorations usually are not necessary items, however and the total required to unlock every Crop is the 3120 Dev Point total needed to unlock the Pineberry Crop.  As with Mastery, however, it is more than possible that new Crops will be added in time that require a greater Dev Point total.  The wise farmer will continue to fill Helicopter Orders on a regular basis, even after achieving the current total needed to unlock all items.  Remember that earning Dev Points on the Island is a fairly slow business after all Missions have been completed.  The total that can be earned by filling all Helicopter Orders in a single day is 75 Dev Points. 

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What is Going On with My Trees?
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New Island Trees:
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There are both Fruit Trees and Wood Trees in the Market.  Fruit Trees once purchased and placed will remain on your Farm forever.  Wood Trees, on the other hand, each have a specific number of possible Harvests.  Once these are made, the Tree will vanish from the land and you will have to purchase another if you wish to be able to continue to harvest that type of Wood.  Tools are needed for the harvest of any Wood Tree as well.  Whenever a Wood Tree is ready to be harvested, you will see a small icon of a log on it.   Tap it to see the tools that are available.  There are two different possible tools.  One is the Crosscut Saw which you can make in your Hardware Store and which, alone of all the Items you can craft there, has no cost.  The second is the Electric Saw, purchased in the Market for 1 RC.  For 1 RC, you obtain three uses of the Electric Saw.  Each when used, doubles your Wood Harvest.

Here are the Trees that can be purchased on the Island:

Fruit Trees
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Chestnut Tree
  You can purchase a total of 5 Chestnut Trees
  Harvest every 2 Hours
  Third one costs 1 RC
   4th costs 3 RC

Tea Tree
  You can purchase a total of 5 Tea Trees
  Harvest every 4 hours
  2200 Coins for the first Tree  and 250 Dev Points to unlock it
  Produces Tea Tree Leaf every 4 hours
  

Bamboo
  You can purchase a total of 5 Bamboo Trees
  Harvest every 8 Hours
  3200 Coins for the first Tree and 900 Dev Points to unlock it
  2nd Bamboo: 6800 Coins
  4th Bamboo: 3 RC

Morus Tree
  You can purchase a total of 5 Morus Trees
  Harvest every 5 hours
  7000 Coins for the first Morus Tree and 1760 Dev Points to unlock it
  15000 Coins for the 2nd Morus Tree
  40000 Coins for the 3rd Morus Tree

Wood Trees
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Wood Trees when purchased are limited in life to a specific number of Harvests.  The Tree then will disappear and you will have to buy another.  Each additional Tree purchased will be more expensive than the previous one purchased. 

Oak Tree
  You can own a total of 5 Oak Trees
  Harvest every 2 Hours
  10 Total Harvests
  2000 Coins for the 1st Oak Tree

Cedar Tree
  You can own a total of 7 Cedar Trees
  Harvest every 6 Hours
  8 Total Harvests
  4500 Coins for the 1st and 150 Dev Points to unlock

Red Sanders
  You can own a total of 5 Red Sanders Trees
  Harvest every 13 Hours
  6 Total Harvests
  22000 Coins  for the 1st and 1100 Dev Points to unlock


When Should I Buy Duplicates?
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There is a limit to the total number of any type of Item you can buy on the Island Farm apart from Crops.  Does it really make sense to buy more than one of any Item, especially when the price of the 2nd may be an RC price rather than the Coin price of the original, first Item of its kind?

Basically, I feel there are only a few Items that merit a duplicate, especially in the early days of farming on the Island.  The first of these is the Hardware Store.  The Hardware Store is one of the most important buildings you will have on your Island Farm.  In it are produced most of the Materials that you will need to complete any Machine or Zeppelin as well as the primariy item used to harvest Wood from Wood Trees.  Every Item made in the Hardware Store takes time, apart from the Crosscut Saws used to harvest Wood.  There is a Coin price attached to each as well, apart from the Crosscut Saw.  If you need a total of 20 Nails to complete a Machine and each Nail takes a total of 12 Minutes to complete, you obviously will have the Materials you need twice as quickly if you can make Nails in two Hardware Stores.

The other Items where it is extremely useful to own more than one are the various Fruit Trees on the Island.   For example, Chestnuts are harvested from the Chestnut Tree every 2 hours.  Chestnuts then are ground into Chestnut Flour in the Watermill for use as a required ingredient in the Flavoured Bread Machine.  At first, when you have not unlocked the Flavoured Bread Machine, you may feel that you have more Chestnut Flour than you ever could need, but once that Machine is unlocked, you will find that your stock of Chestnut Flour depletes rapidly.  Buy as many Chestnut Trees as you can.  I do believe some will be placed on the Island when it is first unlocked but there is no harm in adding to the total.

The Bamboo Tree is another one that is needed in quantity.  The Panda eats the Bamboo Shoots produced by the Bamboo Tree and then makes Bamboo Baskets for use in the Flower Basket Machine.  Bamboo Trees can be harvested only every 8 hours.  Again, you will find that your stock of Bamboo Baskets will disappear rapidly.

Finally, the Morus Tree, producing the Morus Leaf that is fed to the Silkworm Home to produce Natural Silk, is another Tree that you may wish to have in quantity.  Natural Silk, however, although used in the Loom to make Silk when you have earned full 3 Star Mastery of the Loom is not a required Ingredient to USE the Machine, unlike the Bamboo Baskets made by the Panda.  One of the Missions does require you to purchase a total of 2 Morus Trees, however, so if you do not choose to skip that task, you will have two of those Trees on your Farm.

The Tea Tree, on the other hand, is NOT a required ingredient in any Machine although the Leaves it produces can be use in the Essential Oil Machine.  One Tea Tree, therefore, is sufficient.

The primary reason why you need to be able to produce Items in any Machine in any quantity and as quickly as possible, of course, is Mastery.  Without Mastery of a Machine, you will be unable to unlock new Products.

Do you then need more than one Machine of any type?  Well, although you would be able to produce items twice as quickly if you had two Machines instead of one, remember that the price for a second Machine usually is an RC price and furthermore that the Machine you buy will be unfinished.  That means that you will be forced to produce MORE Materials, all of which carry a Coin price and take time to make.  Finally, in terms of Machines with required Seaside ingredients or ingredients that are made from Fruit Tree products, you may find it difficult enough to keep ONE Machine going at all times, let alone two.

The only Machines that might be useful in duplicate are the Essential Oil Machine, a single ingredient Machine and the Watermill.  Even so, I doubt it is worth spending 15 RC on a second Watermill or 12 RC on the unfinished second Essential Oil Machine and then God only knows how much Coin on the various Materials you will need to complete it, at least at this particular stage in the island's history.  The reason why the second Watermill might be more useful than a second Essential Oil Machine is the fact that ALL types of Flour used in various Island Machines are ground in the Watermill.

What happens after I finish all the Missions?
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Even if you complete all existing Missions by skipping some Tasks, you still will need to earn Dev Points and Mastery in order to unlock all possible items on the Island.  In many cases, it will not have made sense to skip Tasks, because the requirements for the Task you skipped will be needed for the next Mission.  For example, what is the point of skipping a Task that asks you to have a Silkworm Home, unlocked at 1920 Dev Points, if you have not achieved the 3 Star Mastery of the Loom that will allow you to make Natural Silk?  The Missions were devised partly as tutorials to show Farmers how to use the Island options and partly in a sequence that allowed Farmers to progress naturally through the different stages of Mastery and Dev Points.

When you have finished all the Missions on the Board, therefore, continue to use all Machines on the Island to earn 3 Star Mastery of each and continue to fill Helicopter Orders to unlock the remainder of the Crops.

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Is there any Reason why I should choose to make one Product instead of another in any Machine?
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If you are earning Mastery of any Machine, you can make ANY Product to progress.  Basically, there are two considerations here when choosing which product to make:

Initially, of course, you will have few choices and the default Item that you can make in most cases uses Island Ingredients rather than Seaside Ingredients.  The exceptions to this are the Hat Machine, where the first default item that can be made requires Peacock Feathers, a Seaside Item, the Pie Machine, where ALL products require Honey, a Seaside Item, the Yogurt Machine, whre ALL products require two Seaside Items in the form of Honey and Goat Milk and finally, the Hot Dog Machine, where ANY product requires a sausage produced in the Salami Machine on Seaside.  With the required Ingredients in stock, however, it probably is best to make the default Item when you can, as it is easier to keep Island Ingredients in quantity.  When you have earned sufficient Mastery to make ALL possible products in any Machine, it may be a good idea to keep at least 4 of each in your Barn for possible Helicopter Orders.  Apart from that, until Mastery is earned, you may wish to make the default item as previously stated.

The only other consideration is the value of the Item made as you will find that your Coins diminish rapidly on the Island.  In other to sell Island Machie products, they first must be shipped back to the Seaside Farm.  Every Machine Product takes 5 Minutes to make the trip from one location to the other.  Cooked Dishes take longer.  Crops only take 1 Minute per item.  With your Zeppelins in constant demand for filling Helicopter Orders and keeping Seaside Items used in Island Machines in stock, it makes more sense to ship valuable Products than inexpensive Products whenever possible.  After all, the time of transit is the same.  Once you have more than sufficient Coins to do anything you please, you can start to ship the inexpensive products to Seaside but until then, it may be more practical to ship the most valuable.  Sometimes, these are Products made with Seaside ingredients, but you usually should be able to find a Product that is worth the same amount but uses Island Ingredients instead.

How Long does it take to ship Items?
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Note that the time of transport will depend on the type of item being shipped.  Crops take 1 minute per Crop to ship and Items harvested from Trees take 2 minutes per Fruit.    Animal Products take 4 minutes per item while Machine products take 5 minutes per item and Cooked Dishes take 8 minutes per item.  Collectables likewise take 8 minutes per item.  Raw seafood take 6 minutes per item and finally, processed Seafood as well as Beauty Shop items take 10 minutes per item to ship.

Why should I continue to earn Dev Points and Mastery Points?
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Earning Mastery and Dev Points
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Progress on the Island depends primarily on two different factors: Mastery and Dev Points.  mastery of Machines is absolutely vital.  Often a Mission task will require a specific degree of Mastery where a Machine is concerned.  Furthermore, your ability to make a specific product in any Machine depends upon your Mastery of that Machine.  There is no way to gain Mastery other than using the Machine again and again.

At present, 3 Star Mastery, requiring that you make a total of 1800 Items in the Machine, is the final degree of Mastery but it is interesting to note that the game continues to log your totals even after you achieve 3 Star Mastery.  It is possible that in the future, your total beyond 3 Stars may become significant, unlocking new products.  You therefore need to continue to use your Machines even after you achieve 3 Star Mastery and complete all existing Island Quests.

Dev Points are the other factor that influences your Island gameplay.  New items are unlocked in every category of the Market only after you have achieved specific Dev Point totals.  Dev Points are earned in two ways, either by completing Missions or by completing Helicopter Orders.  A total of 75 Dev Points can be earned daily by completing all Helicopter Orders from midnight to midnight.  The number of Dev Points you earn by completing Missions varies with the Missions.  In the early Missions, you will not earn ANY Dev Points but as you advance, you will find that Missions include Dev Point Rewards as well as Coins and XP.

Finally, as with the continuing Mastery points that you earn by using your Machines after achieving 3 Star Mastery, I should imagine that as new Items are added to the Market, they will require higher Dev Point totals than the existing Items.  It therefore makes sense to continue to earn Dev Points by completing Helicopter Orders even after you have cleared ALL Missions from the screen.

How Can We Ship All of our Island Items?
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With a potential for 5 Zeppelins to be in operation at all time, you can ship Items from the Island to sell on the original Seaside Farm on a constant basis, but it makes more sense to ship the valuable Products at this point in time.

I noticed that there is a Fishing Pier on the Island.  It is not active yet, but perhaps when it does become active, we will be able to use our Island Products and Items to trade for Bait as we do on the original Seaside Farm.  That would make it possible to use our less valuable Items rather than using Zeppelin space for Items that sell for a pittance.