Pokémon Go developer Niantic is making an AR pet game called Peridot

theverge.com:

Niantic, the developer behind the blockbuster success Pokémon Go, has announced its next augmented reality game — and once again, it’s full of adorable creatures. Called Peridot, the game is all about caring for and breeding magical critters. Think of it like Pokémon Go crossed with a Tamagotchi, with some real-world and AR elements tossed in.

Here’s the basic premise, according to Niantic: “After thousands of years of slumber, Peridots are waking to a world vastly different from the one in which they used to roam, and they’ll need your help to protect them from extinction.” Practically speaking, this means you’ll be caring for creatures by training, feeding, and playing with them, helping them grow from cute little babies to full-grown adults before eventually breeding more.

One of the defining aspects of Peridots is that every creature is unique. They all look different — through a combination of hand-crafted assets and procedural generation — and have distinct personality traits. Niantic says they also have their own DNA; this ties into the breeding aspect, which the developer says is “patterned after the way DNA works in real life.” There are different creature archetypes, like unicorn or cheetah, and these can be blended during breeding to create all-new adorable little critters.

(And no, despite being unique digital assets, the Peridots are not NFTs. “It’s a really interesting idea, and it’s something that we’re obviously looking at,” senior producer Ziah Fogel tells The Verge. “But right now, we’re focused on testing and refining the core gameplay experience to ensure it’s really fun and accessible.”)

Like Niantic’s previous games — including, most recently, Pikmin Bloom — much of the gameplay requires going out