Niantic announced another AR real-world adventure game Peridot. Peridot is a Tamagotchi-like game where players raise and take care of unique virtual creatures.
Peridot creatures (Dots) come to life thanks to AR technology. They are to recognize the difference between the surfaces such as water, grass, sand, and many others. The app can also be easily integrated with social media platforms to quickly and easily share photos of game shots. For the moment, Peridot is available only in Malaysia as a beta version.
While players are looking forward to the release of Peridot by Niantic, let’s remember one of their most popular games - Pokémon Go.
The game was released on June 6, 2016, and a week after its release, the Nianticcompany’s stock rose 1.5 times! Hundreds of thousands of people were hunting for virtual animals. People were catching Pokémons in offices and parks, discussing them over lunch, and generally seeming unable to talk about anything else. What is the secret to the project’s success and why have Pokémon gained popularity so quickly?
After signing up, the player creates an avatar by choosing gender, hair, skin, eye color and style. Later, the avatar is displayed on the map using the player’s current geographical location. There are special points on the map: PokéStops (a place that provides players with items) and Gyms (where Trainers can battle the Pokémon of rival teams).
The main goal of the game is simple: catch and train Pokémon. The player looks at the world around them through a smartphone camera, and the game superimposes a layer of virtual objects. You can not play by simply lying on the couch! The player must really walk around a lot.
If Pokémon is found, a player needs to point the smartphone camera at them and throw a pokéball (a unique red and white ball) by swiping the touch screen. If missed, the Pokémon will run away. Factors for successful capture include the correct strength, timing, and type of pokéball used. Later, one can train pokémon in special areas after reaching level five.
There are 17 types of Pokémons and they all are different in their skills and superpowers.
Pokémons that appear on the map depend on criteria known only to the developers. Different types of Pokémons reside in various locations in the world. For example, water-type Pokémon tend to be near water. Or, for instance, at night, one can meet a Pokémon- ghost.
Catching all Pokémons is very difficult: There are 751 “pocket monsters” in the game created by the developers. The ultimate goal of the game is to complete the entries in the Pokédex - a comprehensive encyclopedia of Pokémon.
Talking about the secret to the success of the game, the first noticeable thing is the unusual mechanics of Pokémon GO. It encourages players to move, explore the city and pay special attention to particular places, rather than just staying at home in front of the screen. Players used to share how many steps they had done just by searching for the Pokémon.
Second, it’s a free game with in-game purchases: all the necessary items appear in the Pokéstops and can be earned during the game, but some of them can be bought for real money.
Another benefit is the attentiveness of the developers. During the pandemic, Niantic made some changes and added new features to the game, making it easier to play from home.
What is hard not to mention is the popularity of Pokémons themselves. The entire generation has grown on the animated series about them. However, there were no such games about Pokémons in the early 2000s.
Lastly, it’s important to mention that Pokémon Go has some aspects of the metaverse. Capture this: the game is happening in the meta-reality via AR, where the real world is extended and enriched with digital elements. Most probably, with the growing popularity of the metaverse, the developers can bring Pokémon Go to the next level and get a second wave of popularity.
