Niantic’s new game, Peridot, is now available to Malaysian players. The game is currently in the midst of a limited soft launch before it gains an official worldwide release.
Revealed two weeks ago, Peridot is an augmented reality pet simulation game that’s got far more in common with Nintendogs or Tamagotchi than it does with Pokemon Go. Rather than capture little critters to fight your battles, Peridot is about conservation. Peridots were actually thought to be extinct, and now that they’ve been rediscovered, it’s up to the player (or Keeper, in the parlance of the game) to help breed these little feathery, furry, and big-eyed fluff balls back from the brink.
Thanks to the Malaysian soft launch, we're getting our first glimpse of Peridot's gameplay loop. YouTuber Arek Survival (via Eurogamer) provides us with a short video showcasing Peridot's opening tutorial sequence and their first Peridot, which they named "Barry." A great name for an almost alien creature that just wants food and pets.
The first thing Peridot teaches the player is how to pet your Peridot--an incredibly important mechanic, given the number of pets that Barry seemed to demand from its keeper. Petting your Peridot provides it with both experience and happiness while raising your Peridot successfully also provides experience for the player.
Besides petting, Peridots also demand food. To find food, you must draw a circle in the real world to command your Peridot to forage. Foodstuffs are then gathered into your backpack to be fed back to your Peridot. Again, happiness and experience are your rewards.
Peridots seem to have daily tasks, which can include walking a certain distance, petting, and feeding, as well as random desires that can provide smaller bonuses. You can also purchase items from the in-game item shop such as Seed Sprouts to increase the growth rate of your Peridot.
After your Peridot reaches adulthood, you can take it to a Habitat (a point of interest similar to Pokemon Go's PokeStops) and breed it with another Peridot. You can only have one Peridot at a time, so breeding a new one seems to release your old Dot back into the wild. But don't worry, you can keep track of your old Dots with an item called Summon Wisps, but you can only have so many Summon Wisps at a time (although you can pay for more).
Peridot is only available in Malaysia at the moment, but we’ll be sure to tell you when Niantic announces more countries as part of the game’s soft launch.