Adam Beck is an Editor-at-Large at DualShockers with more than two decades of experience covering the video game industry. He began writing about games in 2003, with his first published review covering Disgaea: Hour of Darkness for PlayStation 2, and has since written news, reviews, previews, features, guides, and interviews across a wide range of genres.
Before DualShockers, Adam contributed to outlets including Hardcore Gamer and Advanced Media Network, and has experience managing writers as well as covering major industry events such as E3, GDC, Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, and private preview events. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems.
When you think of a casual, feel-good life simulator, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Animal Crossing. It feels like Nintendo has dominated the market for the past twenty-five years, but that’s not to say they’re the only ones in the field. Over the last few years, we’ve seen various other titles try their hand at the casual space, with games such as Pokémon Pokopia being the most recent example, along with Disney Dreamlight Valley and Hello Kitty Island Adventure. All these games have one thing in common: they've all been about building a world that best suits the player.
HoYoverse is looking to break into the space, as one of their next games in their catalog is the adorable Petit Planet. It’s a more bite-sized life simulator, focusing on a mellow aura more than anything, all while customizing a character and various worlds around what you want. We were able to get some hands-on time with the upcoming free-to-play title at this year’s Gamescom, and we couldn’t help but gush over the soothing adventures that await.
The overall vibe of Petit Planet is chill and serene. It’s definitely reminiscent of something like Animal Crossing, where you are given essentially planets to work with, and they’re able to build on top of it. You can put down plots to cultivate food, houses to satisfy residents and fish to your heart's content.
The demo was more of a tutorial than anything. We were tasked with various activities, such as catching bugs, catching fish, planting seeds and harvesting food. With the food, we are able to craft something at the campfire where we sit around and socialize with the locals. These are the core of the experience, as we slowly build up every planet we go to and make it our own, even giving it a name.
With that, there are various other friends you will make along the way. Right from the get-go, we met Mobai, a very chill dog and father figure, helping you along your journey. Along with him, we met his little shopkeeper named Glenn and the incredibly enthusiastic and energetic Esassani. Most of what they had to offer in the demo was to help us on our adventures, as they roamed the planet and looked cute doing so.
Eventually, we came across a couple more faces, such as the red panda character, Yunguo. Yunguo is probably one of our favorites, being an adorably shy individual. We eventually came across Mors, who is investigating the island and is more than willing to join you on your adventures.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.dualshockers.com/gamescom-2026-petit-planet-preview/
