Petit Planet Preview – HoYoverse’s cosy life sim might be dangerously addictive

There is a particular type of game that can make me completely forget what I was supposed to be doing. I’ll start with one simple task, get distracted by something else, then decide that I may as well do that too. Before I know it, I’ve spent an hour fishing, collecting insects, decorating a house and wondering why I haven’t actually done what I originally wanted to. Petit Planet is very much that kind of game.

HoYoverse’s upcoming cosy life simulation game is almost impossible to look at without thinking of Animal Crossing. You create your own character, build a home, befriend adorable neighbours, catch fish and insects, cook, craft and slowly transform the world around you. But there is a rather important difference because you’re not just building a home and village, you’re building a planet.

I got to spend some time with Petit Planet at Gamescom, starting by creating my character and selecting my own little planet. From there, the game introduces a group of friendly characters, including Mobai, Glenn and Elsasani, who begin moving into your new home.

The basic idea is simple. Your planet starts out relatively barren, and it’s your job to nurture it and help it grow. That process begins with something called Luca.

You’re given a Luca seed, which you plant on your planet. As the seed grows, grass and flowers begin appearing around it, with Luca acting as the vitality that fuels the planet’s development. As the planet grows, it produces more Luca, allowing you to water the seed again and continue the cycle. It’s a wonderfully simple progression system, but watching the planet physically change as you nurture it is surprisingly satisfying.

After watering the seed, it grew into a sapling. The planet developed again, and suddenly new life began to appear. Fish started swimming through the water, giving me something else to discover and collect. I could catch those fish and place them inside an eco tank, allowing me to observe the creatures I’d found rather than simply adding them to an inventory and forgetting about them.

Then I was given a net and you can probably guess what happened next… I went bug hunting. I caught five insects and placed them in the tank alongside my fish, and with every new stage of development, the planet continued to grow and feel a little more alive.

Each stage came with missions and character interactions to guide me on my way. A nudge here to customise my home a little, a new character there who would like some help finding wild vegetables, a new tool like shellfish tongs so I could head to the seafront and catch a tiger prawn. It’s difficult to explain just how satisfying these small moments are. Nothing particularly dramatic is happening, but Petit Planet constantly gives you something new to discover.

I soon realised that this game had completely sucked me into its routine. Go out. Gather something. Give it to a neighbour. Improve your relationship. Build something. Customise my home. Cook something. Water the planet. See what happens next.

Petit Planet features a MomentFolio that keeps track of everything you’ve discovered, and judging by what I saw, there’s a frankly ridiculous amount of stuff to find. We’re talking hundreds of pieces of furniture to fill your growing home with, dozens of dishes and plants too cook and to grow, and more than 200 creatures to catch and catalogue.

And that’s before you start looking beyond your own planet. Once you’ve progressed far enough, the Starcove app becomes available through your in-game phone. This gives you access to information about your relationships with your neighbours, including the bonds you’ve formed and the quests available to deepen those relationships.

The world can also extend beyond your home planet through the Starsea, where you can discover new locations, gather materials, encounter new creatures and uncover hidden surprises. There’s also the Galactic Bazaar, a social hub where players can meet and take part in various activities. I didn’t get enough time with these wider systems during my session to properly judge how much depth they’ll ultimately add, but they give Petit Planet plenty of room to grow beyond the cosy routine of tending your own little world.

And that, ultimately, is what I’m most interested in seeing, because while the comparisons to Animal Crossing are obvious, there’s also ways in which HoYoverse is able to take the premise further. They have taken that familiar life-sim formula and built it around a much more dynamic idea: your planet itself is the thing you’re developing. Every time you water Luca, you’re not simply ticking off a progression bar, You’re watching the environment change, new life appear and your little corner of the universe become more developed. The presentation is beautiful, the characters are adorable and every new discovery is accompanied by another little burst of colour and life. This has that same immediately welcoming quality that makes the best cosy games so difficult to put down.

So, Petit Planet may look like Animal Crossing in space, but after playing it, I’m starting to think the more dangerous comparison might be that it’s the sort of game that could quietly steal your entire weekend.

And honestly, I’m not sure I’d mind.

Petit Planet is heading to release this winter for iOS, Android and PC. One final beta test will take place from 20th September, with sign ups now available.

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