Niantic’s pet game Peridot is too cute for words

The little creatures in Peridot are adorable. The virtual pets are designed to make you say "awww." When you give them attention, they respond with big eyes and bright bodies. I was only able to play a small portion of the game before it was released.

I had the chance to play a demo of the game with Ziah Fogel. The game is basically a cross between Pokemon Go and Nintendogs, with all of the augmented reality and location-based gaming you would expect from Niantic but with a focus on taking care of your virtual pet. You only have one peridot at a time, and your main goal is to keep them happy, so they will mature into a well-adjusted adult, which can then breed to create even more cute little girls.

When you first play the game, you are presented with a baby creature and tasked with naming it. I named my friend "NFT". The correct pronunciation can be seen here. There is a quest system revolving around your pet's wants. They may want to be petted or have some type of food. I apologize, but my little NFT really wanted to see some flowers, so we went to a restaurant that had a vase of roses on its hostess stand. My peridot perked up after seeing them.

Niantic points out that there isn't a punishment here. Pets can get sad, but they don't die. There is a game called peridot. It helps to make them happy. It is also a game that focuses on touch. You can play with your little guy by tossing a tennis ball and it will bounce off of walls and trees in a realistic way. In order to get food and other items, you draw a circle on the screen, and your pet will dive in to get what it needs. You will get different types of items depending on what surface it is being used in.

It seems like the game will be more suited to solo, sedentary play compared to games like Pokemon Go. Fogel says that a lot of the game is about nurturing. You can play fetch in your living room and have a lot of fun.

There are real world points of interest, like the gyms in Pokémon Go. There are streams of bubbles at ground level that let you know a habitat is nearby, and they play an important role in allowing you to breed your virtual pet with another player. One to three days is the time it takes for peridots to reach adulthood, and the idea is that you can try for specific types of creatures. The baby will take on certain characteristics from both of its parents, and you can use an associated nest to enhance these. I will have to spend more time with the final version to get a better idea of what it is.

One of the curiosities is that since you only take care of one peridot at a time, you have to say goodbye. Fogel says that when you breed with your current adult, you can go back and play with it. I found a cow-spotted baby yeti named "Web3". I apologize.

There's a photo mode where you can take pictures of your pet being cute and it ties into a feature that will allow you to train your peridot and teach it tricks. Fogel says it is just one of several intriguing features that are planned for the game. She says that their feature is like a dog park. You don't have to go into a lobby or anything, you just jump into a park and see a bunch of people's peridots. That is something we are excited to build. It is something that is technically challenging.

The film is currently in soft launch in Malaysia. Fogel said that he hoped soon.