Palworld is a game developed by Pocketpair Inc., a Japanese indie game studio recognized for its quirky genre combinations, especially when it deals with the world of monster-collection RPGs. The developers have teased fans with a new idea of “Pokémon with guns” in Palworld. However, this is not Pocketpair’s first foray into the gaming world. Other games developed by Pocketpair include various titles that exhibit the diverse portfolio of the company leading up to Palworld.
Craftopia (2020)
Before Palworld, Pocketpair shook the foundations with Craftopia, an open-world survival game that merges several mechanics from a few of the most popular titles. First released on early access in 2020, Craftopia was crafted to be a mashup of familiar gameplay elements: everything from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to Minecraft and even Factorio. Its unusual combination of mechanics won over many fans.
Craftopia enables players to farm, craft, build, hunt, and fight their way through a huge and varied world. Such is its appeal because the gameplay has a great range from crafting complex machinery, exploring dungeons, and taming creatures, to even large-scale production chains. The game has multiplayer modes that enable players to team up with friends for cooperative survival and creativity. This is a true sandbox in which one can build around themselves while engaging in combat and exploring activities.
Although still in early access, Craftopia has received fairly frequent updates-developer additions of new content and polishing of older features. The post-launch commitment by Pocketpair does go to show the care they put into improving their work after it hits the market, which is a good omen for Palworld as it approaches release.
Overdungeon (2019)
Another title that caught the attention of Pocketpair had to be Overdungeon, a combination of roguelike and tower defense game modes. This game was released in 2019 and immediately introduced an interesting deck-building mechanic whereby players would deploy cards to summon units, cast spells, and place traps in quick-paced dungeon fights. Taking inspiration from games such as Slay the Spire and the more traditional tower defense games, Overdungeon did something different in strategy, merging the unpredictability of a roguelike with the tactical pre-planning considered in tower defense.
Every time one tries out a run in Overdungeon, it is different because the deck of cards that players will be building continuously changes. The players can unlock new cards and upgrades through gameplay, which means replayability and constant strategic challenges. The game was praised for being innovative and having fast-paced gameplay, while sometimes its randomness was considered unforgiving.
At least compared to Craftopia, Overdungeon was more niche, but it proved Pocketpair could mix genre hybrids, a harbinger for things to come.
ICEY (Published, 2016)
While Pocketpair might not have developed ICEY, the company helped publish it to wider markets. ICEY by FantaBlade Network is a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash game with fast-moving combat and an intriguing storyline that breaks the fourth wall through narration, guiding the player through the world while begging them to do the opposite and find alternative routes.
While not an original by Pocketpair, the game fits within the company’s interest in games that are quite unconventional. Its addition to their portfolio hints at the team’s appreciation for innovation in storytelling and gameplay mechanics, themes that reverberate in their work.
Development Philosophy of Pocketpair
Starting with Pocketpair’s catalog, one could notice the common theme within most of their games combining several genres and mechanics into something that can feel both familiar and unique. Craftopia, with its wide open-world survival gameplay, and Overdungeon, mixing deck-building and roguelike mechanics, really capture the experimental approach Pocketpair has toward game development. A large part of what helps their games stand out in such an increasingly crowded indie market is their willingness to draw from established genres while putting their twist on them.
This is a creative experimentation that continues with Palworld. Pocketpair has taken yet another well-worn concept that of monster collection à la Pokémon-and then mashed it up with some unexpected elements: third-person shooting and open-world survival. Such a mashup of contrasting ideas set Palworld as one that has gained lots of attention to date and looks very much like the next genre-bending hit from the studio.
Conclusion
Pocketpair’s road from Overdungeon to Craftopia, and now Palworld, has been one of gradual evolution within the indie game development scene, with each new title pushing against the boundaries of what one set or another preordained genre allowed, bringing fresh mechanics and ideas into games that felt both new and engaging. With Palworld, it would seem they are about to continue that success by founding another unique title that takes some of the best game mechanics and puts fresh new twists on them. While fans wait for Palworld’s release, Pocketpair’s track record shows another memorable experience in gaming.
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