Niantic built a name for itself with Pokémon Go and is soon launching its own original take on the “catch em’ all’ formula, Peridot. The title is an original IP from the studio and focuses on collecting and attending to an array of colourful new creatures.
Peridot has long been in development following several not-so-successful releases from Niantic. Following titles like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Pikmin Bloom, and other licenced games, Niantic is pivoting to an original concept.
Niantic’s title soft launched in beta in Malaysia last year. This revealed a lot of information about the game, offering insight into what players will experience. Rather than a straight clone of Pokémon Go, Niantic appears to be instilling more Tamagotchi-like mechanics into Peridot.
In Peridot, players start with one creature. From there, they’ll be able to interact with other active players and breed their Peridot to spawn new creatures. In turn, the offspring inherit traits from their parent creatures, making them unique. However, breeding and growing a roster of Peridots is only one component of the game.
Much like Tamagotchi, players must actively take care of their creatures. This means you’ll be tasked with petting, playing, and feeding your Peridots. Additionally, you’ll need to go on walks with your creature to keep them happy.
Naturally, Niantic aims to introduce augmented reality (AR) elements into the game. Much like its other mobile titles, Peridot will bring the creatures to the real world through the use of a smartphone. Players can tap the screen and draw to interact and entertain their creature.
It remains to be seen whether Peridot will be a smashing success like Pokémon Go was upon its launch in 2016. However, not being tied to a licence could give Niantic some much-needed flexibility in its ongoing support of the game.
Preregistration for Peridot is available now on iOS and Android. The game will be available in Canada and worldwide on May 9th.
Image credit: Niantic
Source: Android Police