Petadachi

If you watched the Nintendo Life Indie Spotlight all the way to the end, then you'll notice we did our own take on the "One More Thing" reveal with Atooi's Petadatchi.

Described by Atooi's Jools Watsham as a cross between Animal Crossing and Tamagotchi, the game involves raising your own pet in a relaxing game world where you can perform tasks like catching fish and gathering food.

Speaking exclusively to Nintendo Life about the new game, Watsham explained how the game came to be:

We have always had pets in my family. Pets add so much love and joy to our lives. They really become part of the family. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to our puppy of 16 years in 2018. That was heartbreaking. It got me thinking about what pets mean to me and the bond that grows between a person and their pet.

Being a videogame designer, it also got me thinking about designing a virtual pet game. I have always wanted to enjoy playing a virtual pet game more than I do. My mission was to improve upon the design of standard virtual pet games to make Petadachi something special.

The aim is to grow and develop your pet by playing with it and feeding it, but it won't be as simple as pushing a button, as is the case with Tamagotchi; instead, you'll have to physically source the items required to make certain food, for example.

As Watsham explains:

The heart of Petadachi is a virtual pet experience: care for your pet. Your pet has four meters you must keep an eye on: Health, Hunger, Hygiene, and Sleepiness. Different activities and situations will cause a specific meter to deplete and you must determine what your pet needs to replenish that meter. This is where many virtual pet games reach their limit. However, in Petadachi you must also consider how and where you will get the needed items.

This led me down a path of expanding on the virtual pet experience with simple life simulation features. Where do you buy the food and other items needed to care for your pet? How do you earn money to pay for the items? Can you grow your own food or even find some in the wild? Where do you live? Who are your neighbours? These are the sorts of questions that came up and ultimately influenced the design of Petadachi to blossom into a unique hybrid of virtual pet and life simulation that is a joy to experience.

To keep the vision of Petadachi in focus, everything we create for Petadachi is filtered through these words: Love. Joy. Relaxation. Escapism. Community.

Petadachi launches on Switch in 2021, with Limited Run Games publishing.