The upcoming game Pickmon, developed by PocketGame and published by NETWORKGO, promises an expansive multiplayer open-world experience for creature-collecting fans. Players will explore an uncharted continent full of ancient civilizations, capture fantastical creatures called Pickmon, farm, craft, build bases, and even automate production in industrial facilities. On the surface, it hits all the familiar notes that have made games like Palworld and Pokémon popular—but does it do enough to stand on its own?

Exploring the World of Pickmon

Players can traverse diverse biomes—from lush grasslands and dense jungles to frozen tundras and volcanic peaks—using their Pickmon’s unique abilities to overcome environmental challenges. The game emphasizes freedom in exploration, survival, and cooperative gameplay, allowing friends to team up online to tackle the world’s mysteries together. Farming, crafting, and base building are core pillars, giving players a tangible sense of growth and progression as they manage resources, maintain food supplies, and construct homes and factories.

Creature Collection and Combat

The Pickmon themselves are central to the experience. Players capture creatures using specialized cards and then train them for combat, exploration, and resource gathering. This creature-collection mechanic will feel immediately familiar to fans of Pokémon and Palworld, offering the satisfaction of building a personalized team and mastering synergies between different creatures. The co-op gameplay adds another layer of strategy, letting players combine their Pickmon teams for more complex challenges.

Critical Questions: Innovation vs. Copy

While Pickmon’s core systems are solid, the game currently shows limited innovation. The story—centering on a shadowy organization and lost civilizations—is engaging in theory, but it remains unclear if the narrative depth will differentiate it from other creature-collecting games. Some may argue Pickmon is leaning on established mechanics and trends, raising concerns that it could be perceived as a cash grab or a lazy Palworld clone. Additionally, while it avoids directly using Pokémon IP, the similarities in creature collection, co-op play, and exploration may raise eyebrows among players familiar with Nintendo’s titles.

Potential and Appeal

Despite these criticisms, Pickmon has potential to satisfy players who enjoy multiplayer creature-collecting survival games. Its combination of exploration, farming, crafting, and industrial automation provides plenty of systems for players to engage with, particularly in cooperative play. If the developers can inject enough unique hooks—whether through story, Pickmon abilities, or world design—it could carve out its own niche, rather than being remembered as merely derivative.

In the end, Pickmon is both promising and cautious: it offers the creature-collection gameplay fans love, yet it must work hard to prove it’s more than a trend-chasing clone in an increasingly crowded genre.