Niantic, the developer of Pokemon Go, has announced Peridot, a new AR pet simulator that revolves around raising, caring for, and breeding the titular creatures. It’s the company’s first original AR game since 2014’s Ingress, and it’s practically a combination of Neopets and Tamagotchi — which many of us grew up carrying around in the early aughts.
In the game, Peridots (or Dots, for short) wake up to a world that is vastly different from their own after sleeping for thousands of years and need the player’s help to save them from the edge of extinction. Much like Pokemon Go, Peridot encourages players to step outside their comfort zone and explore the world with their cute, mystical pets and learn more about them as they experience life from birth to adulthood.
Dots grow through each life stage and gain experience points when you pet them, play with them, and train them. They also grow when you fulfill their every desire, such as walking, visiting a point of interest, or eating a blue tomato. Once they reach adulthood, they’ll be ready to breed with other Dots, which requires getting help from other players to diversify their species and rehabilitate their declining population. Dots have such unique DNA that their babies resemble different animals when they hatch, such as unicorns, cheetahs, rabbits, dogs, and birds.
Just like in Pokemon Go and Pikmin Bloom, Niantic will use its Lightship ARDK technology that allows Dots to recognize different terrain such as grass, sand, dirt, and asphalt. The food and items they will forage for will vary depending on the type of ground they’re walking on.
Peridot will get a soft launch later this month. As of this writing, Niantic hasn’t shared an actual release date.
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