After growing up playing Pokémon, I will jump at the chance to try pretty much anything that involves some form of monster collection. It's just my jam and Palworld looks and sounds kind of hilarious that I need to play it.
It's basically taking the initial idea of Pokémon and expanding it with guns, farming, survival, building and apparently quite a lot more. It's actually sprinkling in game mechanics from all sorts of popular games. Even if a bit janky, which I expect since it will be in Early Access on January 19th, it's quite likely to be the next big thing.
Direct Link
Game Features:
- Survival
- In a harsh environment where food is scarce and vicious poachers roam, danger waits around every corner. To survive, you must tread carefully and make difficult choices...even if that means eating your own Pals when the time comes.
- Mounts & Exploration
- Pals can be mounted to traverse the land, sea and sky—allowing you to traverse all kinds of environment as you explore the world.
- Building Structures
- Want to build a pyramid? Put an army of Pals on the job. Don't worry; there are no labor laws for Pals.
- Production
- Make use of Pals and their skills to make fire, generate electricity, or mine ore so that you can live a life of comfort.
- Farming
- Some Pals are good at planting seeds, while others are skilled at watering or harvesting crops. Work together with your Pals to create an idyllic farmstead.
- Factories & Automation
- Letting Pals do the work is the key to automation. Build a factory, place a Pal in it, and they'll keep working as long as they're fed—until they're dead, that is.
- Dungeon Exploration
- With Pals on your side you can tackle even the most dangerous areas. When the time comes, you might have to sacrifice one to save your skin. They'll protect your life—even if it costs their own.
- Breeding & Genetics
- Breed a Pal and it will inherit the characteristics of its parents. Combine rare pals to create the strongest Pal of them all!
- Poaching & Crime
- Endangered Pals live in wildlife sanctuaries. Sneak in and capture rare Pals to get rich quick! It's not a crime if you don't get caught, after all.
- Multiplayer
- Multiplayer is supported, so invite a friend and go on an adventure together! And of course you can battle your friends and trade Pals, too.
I'll be testing this one out on Steam Deck and my Kubuntu Linux desktop with Steam Play Proton for sure, so expect a report on how it runs some time shortly after release. The game is made with Unreal Engine 5, so it will be real interesting to see how the Steam Deck handles it, although graphically it doesn't look too demanding but graphics and style are of course only one part of the performance puzzle. Stay tuned.
You can find it on Steam.
I had come across the listing, and thought it was satire, especially with the poaching and slavery bits.
Good on them for making an actual game. I just hope it's actual satire and don't take themselves too seriously. The description reads promising on that bit, at least.
Last edited by MayeulC on 10 January 2024 at 11:25 am UTC
I expect this will be popular with streamers thanks to the edgy bits, at least.
Quoting: Mountain ManI'm surprised Nintendo hasn't hit the developer with a cease and desist.
I suspect one of the reasons for them releasing the game first in Early Access is to vibe check potential copyright infringements from Nintendo.
Quoting: Liam DaweIt always strikes me as odd whenever there’s a monster catcher, people immediately wonder about Nintendo. You can’t own the entire concept. This comes up every time. Unless they literally rip Pokemon directly, it’s just another game.I think the concept is fine, but some of those character designs are decidedly close to the design of some Pokemon. I don't know if it's close enough to count as copyright infringement.
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