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Key Preview Takeaways:
- It will remind you a lot of Animal Crossing. This isn’t a bad thing!
- There are some nice touches that go beyond Animal Crossing that I appreciate.
- The Switch 2 version won’t be out until next year.
2026 has been an incredibly crowded year for cozy life simulation games. Ironically, a genre that people usually turn to when they need a break from intense action games has started to wear me out. After playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ latest update, Starsand Island; Pokémon Pokopia; Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream; and more, I found myself suffering from a different kind of fatigue. The fact that Petit Planet still managed to hook me despite all that says a lot about how it’s shaping up.
As this genre continues to evolve in different directions, Petit Planet, developed by HoYoverse, aka the company behind Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, is a game that follows closely in the footsteps of Animal Crossing. In particular, its inspiration from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which introduced outdoor furniture placement and crafting to the series, is immediately apparent.
Petit Planet is built around the concept of living on your own uninhabited planet. After a simple character creation process, you sign up for a program offered by a company called Loomi Co., which lets you settle on an uninhabited planet. Guided by a dog named Mobai, you choose a planet with your preferred ecosystem and begin your new life. Mobai and his companions move in alongside you and help you get settled.
Mobai essentially fills the same role as Tom Nook in Animal Crossing. Petit Planet even makes a direct reference to its inspiration when he hands you a temporary housing kit, asking something along the lines of, “Wait, they made you take out a loan on your previous planet?” He reassures you that there’s no such system here, which sounds wonderful—until you discover that upgrading your temporary home to a proper house still costs money. Sure, there’s no loan, but that’s only because you have to pay upfront! Tom Nook’s influence is alive and well in this one.
The opening hours also feel remarkably similar to Animal Crossing. Shake a tree and fruit falls to the ground, with each planet having its own native fruit. You can decorate your tiny temporary home with furniture, change your character’s clothes, catch bugs with a net, and fish with a rod. Fish and insects can be sold, used for cooking, or donated to a facility called the Eco House, which serves much the same purpose as the museum in Animal Crossing.
Even the little details are familiar. Nearby animals applaud or compliment you when you successfully catch a bug or fish, and newly discovered creatures come with amusing descriptions.
That said, despite using New Horizons as a clear foundation, Petit Planet has some interesting features that make it feel distinct. For example, in addition to fishing and bug catching, you can use a tong to collect shellfish and other creatures in shallow water. I particularly enjoyed trying to catch hermit crabs hiding beneath rocks, carefully timing my approach for the moment they emerged.
The way your planet develops is also quite different from anything in Animal Crossing. At the center of your planet stands a tree named Luca, which initially resembles the Town Tree seen in earlier Animal Crossing games. By completing various activities, you earn opportunities to water it, causing the tree to grow.
As the tree grows, the entire planet begins to change. At first, the changes are relatively small, such as flowers blooming nearby. Eventually, however, rivers and even oceans appear. Each stage of the tree’s growth transforms the landscape, introducing new terrain and expanding the world around you. Growing this tree effectively serves as the game’s main objective, giving you a reason to complete the various tasks scattered throughout your daily life.
Animal Crossing meets dating sim?
The arrival of new animal residents is another area where Petit Planet takes a familiar idea and develops it further. As you progress, more animals gradually visit your planet, but rather than simply moving in, their introductions play out as little story events. You need to complete their individual story missions before they agree to settle down. The objectives themselves can be quite simple, such as catching a particular insect for someone, but these quests effectively serve as character introductions, giving each resident a little more personality before they become part of your community. Once the animals have moved in, they’ll continue asking you for favors. Interacting with them gradually increases a relationship meter, almost as though Animal Crossing had borrowed a few mechanics from a dating sim.
Each character has their own specialties, likes, dislikes, and backstory. As your relationship grows, you learn more about them and receive rewards along the way. In that sense, Petit Planet gives you a clearer incentive to interact with your neighbors than Animal Crossing does, and seems determined to expand upon the idea of actually living alongside these characters.
Of course, there’s a potential downside to this approach. If the game isn’t careful, living with your neighbors could start to feel less like a natural relationship and more like completing a checklist to maximize their affection. That’s something I’d like to examine more closely after spending additional time with the game. The inclusion of voice acting is just one indication of how much effort HoYoverse has put into Petit Planet’s presentation. Personally, what impressed me most was the attention to detail in its animations.
For example, when your character stands up from a chair, they gently push it back into place with their hand. It might sound like an oddly specific thing to get excited about, but I can’t recall seeing that animation in many other games. Likewise, when digging a hole with a shovel, your character places a foot on the top of the blade and presses down, just as someone would in real life. These small touches make everyday activities feel surprisingly convincing and help bring the planet to life.
The gestures you gradually unlock as you progress are equally well-animated, making the photo mode particularly enjoyable. At one point, I was lying on the beach when I noticed another character running around in the shallow water nearby. Watching this little scene unfold made me appreciate just how lively and charming the world of Petit Planet can be.
Furniture heaven
There’s no denying that Petit Planet shares so many similarities with Animal Crossing that some players may accuse it of being too derivative. A system called Loomix Footprints, which rewards small everyday accomplishments with a special currency, is strongly reminiscent of Nook Miles. Likewise, learning how to craft new items by reading Create Cards feels almost identical to collecting DIY recipes.
And yet, Petit Planet remains immensely appealing. Part of that comes from the unique concept of living on a planet, but I suspect much of its appeal simply comes down to the exceptionally high quality of its execution. The furniture you can craft is consistently attractive, which only makes me want to spend more time decorating both my house and the surrounding landscape.
I also had the opportunity to play a build with a considerable amount of progress already made. My character had access to a huge collection of furniture and clothing, allowing me to experiment freely with all sorts of decorative possibilities. Browsing through these items made me wonder whether Petit’s greatest strength might actually be the sheer quantity and quality of its customization options. For someone like me, who spent countless hours decorating the interiors of houses and designing the landscape of my island in Animal Crossing, there’s more than enough here to keep me occupied for a very long time.
There are plenty of items that naturally belong outdoors, too. Alongside familiar objects such as vending machines, which are also available in Animal Crossing, you’ll find things like bus stops. With such a wide variety of furniture, it’s easy to imagine creating entire residential neighborhoods, shopping streets, parks, and other themed areas.
Given the game’s Chinese origins, I was also pleased to see a generous selection of East Asian-inspired furniture. I decided to turn a Chinese pond into a makeshift bathtub, transforming one of the rooms in my house into a Chinese style bathroom. Of course, not everyone enjoys designing an entire space from scratch. That’s where the Blueprint system comes in handy. By placing the required furniture in designated positions, you can complete a predesigned facility or area. Better still, these creations aren’t merely decorative. The residents of your planet actually make use of them.
During my play session, I followed a Blueprint to set up a projector, a popcorn machine, chairs, and more on the beach. Once everything was in place, an event was triggered in which the residents gathered to watch a movie together.
Seeing everyone happily enjoying a space I’d created gave me a sense of satisfaction that went beyond simply arranging furniture. This was actually one of the aspects of Animal Crossing that I had always found somewhat lacking.
Throwing snowballs
I also got to experience Petit Planet during the winter season. Here, my planet had been transformed into a snowy wonderland. Snow covered the rooftops and trees, giving the familiar scenery an entirely different atmosphere. What impressed me most was that even some of the larger pieces of furniture I’d placed outdoors were covered in snow. Seasonal changes are nothing new to Animal Crossing, of course, but seeing player-placed furniture change its appearance to match the season felt like a particularly nice touch. Petit Planet reportedly features more than 1,000 free furniture and clothing items in total. Just imagining the amount of work involved in creating seasonal variations for even a portion of those items is enough to make my head spin.
Naturally, winter brings its own activities as well. Clearing away piles of snow rewards you with snowflakes, which can then be used to craft seasonal items such as the sled and a snowmonster. Eager to craft as many winter-themed decorations as possible, I started clearing snow wherever I could find it. To my surprise, one particular snow pile was hiding an incense burner underneath. Little discoveries like this help prevent what could otherwise be a repetitive chore from becoming monotonous. I was also surprised by the way you can throw snowballs. Rather than simply pressing a button to toss one, you can actually aim your throw using a targeting system reminiscent of a third-person shooter. Life simulation games tend to favor simple controls, but Petit Planet seems happy to borrow ideas from other genres. This approach makes its everyday activities feel more believable and interactive. And yes, you can also roll snowballs around to make them bigger, then stack two of them together to build a snowman. It seems that all the classic winter activities are accounted for.
Too busy for a hot spring?
Petit Planet also features seasonal events, and this time I got to experience one called the Season of Snowfall. takes place at a hot spring resort on another planet, where you meet the manager, Heyu, and help out with various tasks around the establishment. The gameplay mostly consists of straightforward errands, but the accompanying stories are so charming that I found myself eager to see what would happen next.
My favorite encounter involved a tiny rabbit named Maxwell, who happens to be a movie director. Apparently, he’d come to the area to scout locations for his next movie. He made a point of insisting that he had absolutely no intention of taking a dip in the hot springs himself. Yet a little while later, he returned with his teeth chattering from the cold. After I guided him to the hot springs, he happily jumped into the water wearing a swim ring. Apparently, as thanks for saving him from freezing to death, he’s going to include my name in the special thanks section of his movie’s credits.
Some players will undoubtedly feel that Petit Planet is simply too similar to Animal Crossing, and I can understand that criticism. However, it’s worth remembering how Pokémon Pokopia borrowed numerous elements from Animal Crossing as well, while still managing to create an experience that felt fresh and distinctive.
HoYoverse itself has been through something similar before. Prior to the release of Genshin Impact, that game faced criticism for its resemblance to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Once it launched, however, it quickly became clear that Genshin Impact had plenty of its own ideas and offered a distinctive experience.
I believe Petit Planet has every chance of following a similar path, drawing inspiration from Animal Crossing while developing an identity that players can appreciate on its own terms. In particular, its online features, which allow players to connect with one another, appear to be considerably more extensive than those in Animal Crossing. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to explore these systems thoroughly enough to offer a proper assessment just yet.
I also had the opportunity to spend some time with the recently announced Nintendo Switch 2 version. As it was still a work-in-progress build, I noticed a bit of frame rate stuttering, and there were noticeable visual differences compared to the PC version. Given how well cozy life simulation games are suited to the Nintendo Switch 2, I’m hoping the developers will be able to further polish this version ahead of its planned release in 2027 after the PC and mobile versions drop on December 4.
While you’re here, check out these recent previews of other big upcoming games we’ve checked out recently!
Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan.
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https://www.ign.com/articles/petit-planet-aka-hoyoverses-take-on-animal-crossing-is-packed-with-charm-and-attention-to-detail-ign-preview
Ryan McCaffrey
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