October's Nintendo Indie World showcase has come and gone, and open-world RPG Petal Runner was an event highlight. With its throwback world design, Petal Runner looks like the perfect game to bring gamers back to a time when playing Pokemon Yellow on the Game Boy Color was seen as the apex of gaming. Oozing with charm and retro-fueled mechanics, Petal Runner and the Switch 2 are bound to be a match made in heaven.
I want to make it clear that Petal Runner is not another creature collection game. Ever since Palworld first entered early access in 2024 and became a huge hit, there has been an influx of new creature collection games that are riding the "Pokemon killer" wave. Petal Runner doesn't have a creature-catching loop, but it does have a focus on digital pets. Animal-like companions are still part of the equation, but it's a far cry from Pokemon's well-established gameplay formula. Instead of gameplay, what Petal Runners has in common with early Pokemon titles is its pixelated world design and love for adventure.
Pokopia is giving Switch 2 a cozy experience Animal Crossing fans have been missing, and its growing support could keep filling that gap.
Just watching a few seconds of Petal Runner footage makes it abundantly clear that developer Nano Park Studios has a seriously deep love for classic Pokemon games. The Pokemon titles from the 90s are some of the best Game Boy Color games of all time, and this franchise era helped build up an entire generation of gamers.
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