Yes, you read that right — I’ve never played any HoYoverse titles. When Genshin Impact was all the rage, I was hooked on Animal Crossing: New Horizons and was still busy with awesome singleplayer experiences like The Last of Us 2 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. When Honkai: Star Rail made its debut, I was fighting the demons of Sanctuary in Diablo 4. And now in 2025, I’m simply scared that I’m just too late to the party.
Missing so much content and getting into a live-service game years into its life has always been daunting to me; it’s why I had to really push myself to catch up on Destiny 2 for The Final Shape, and why I’m just now talking myself into giving Fallout 76 another go. This fear of commitment is the main reason games like Genshin and Honkai have been off my radar. I fully respect HoYoverse for consistently creating these deep experiences full of popular characters, but I’ve also seen friends shut themselves off to the world when they get into them, spending all their gaming time and money on HoYoverse content. As someone who likes to play as many games as possible, I’m afraid it’ll take all I’ve got to catch up on the current HoYoverse games. Fortunately, that’s where Petit Planet comes in, as I can get in on the ground level of a HoYoverse title that also fills a void in my gaming lineup: the lack of an Animal Crossing-like experience.
Petit Planet is HoYoverse Animal Crossing, and That’s Just What I Need Right Now
As someone who is out of the loop when it comes to HoYoverse content, I found out about Petit Planet in an interesting way. Essentially, with Animal Crossing unlikely to receive a new entry until around 2027 based on the gap between New Leaf and New Horizons, I’ve been regularly searching for alternatives to make the wait a bit more bearable. There have been a few good options, to be fair, but nothing has quite scratched the itch. Sure, Hello Kitty: Island Adventure was fun for a bit, but the constant time-gating eventually pushed me away. Dinkum is charming, but the interior decoration left quite a bit to be desired. And while the upcoming game Animula Nook looks stunning, it could be a fair bit before it actually releases.
Getting desperate, I searched Animal Crossing in Google Trends, and I was surprised to find that the top search had nothing to do with my go-to cozy franchise. Instead, the related search was Petit Planet, which led me to the Home Inspiration trailer that released just a few days ago. Upon watching it, my jaw dropped for a few reasons. First, it looked nothing like the usual HoYoverse fare, so the developer responsible for the project caught me off-guard. Second, the home customization looked just as incredible as it does in the Animal Crossing series, if not better. Anyone who knows me well is aware that if I didn’t have a job covering video games, I’d probably be doing interior design. In practically every cozy game I play with my fiancée, be it the Farm Together series, Palia, or Minecraft, I leave her to do all the exterior decoration while I work on making houses feel like homes. With Petit Planet, it looks like I’ll be able to do just that. The decorative options are extensive, with numerous furniture themes, collectable plushies, and more on display in the latest footage.
Petit Planet currently lacks a release date, but a closed beta called the “coziness test” is beginning in just a few days. Lucky players who are chosen for the test after filling out a survey will be able to try the game on PC or mobile devices come November 7.
Home Decoration is the Tip of the Iceberg For Petit Planet
While decorating rooms is my favorite thing to do in cozy games, there are plenty of other activities I like. Fortunately, Petit Planet has me covered, as all the following cozy staples are present within HoYoverse’s take on the genre:
- Mining
- Cooking
- Planting/Farming
- Crafting
- Shopping
- Fishing (my second favorite cozy game activity)
- Exploration via a “Starsea Voyage” mechanic. Perhaps this will work like Animal Crossing’s Mystery Islands?
- A social hub called Galactic Bazaar where you can meet new players
Based on the reveal trailer for Petit Planet, which I finally got to watch after stumbling upon the aforementioned Home Inspiration trailer, co-op seems like it will be a major focus of the game. Players are shown sitting with others, emoting, and having a dance party, with that final detail suggesting mini-games will be present in Petit Planet to some extent. Additionally, there will be animal NPCs, with four revealed thus far (it’s unclear if there will also be random characters that move in like Animal Crossing Villagers). The revealed characters are the farming fox Yungao, Isaki the “battle beetle” trainer, Medowlyn the plushie-making sheep, and Frostia the scholar (hello, Blathers 2.0!)
With even the initial trailer's small planets reminding me of the dormant LittleBigPlanet series, another one of my favorite franchises ever, Petit Planet seems like it could be a dream come true for me. And who knows — if I do end up loving it, maybe I’ll finally be brave enough to tackle the bigger HoYoverse offerings.
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Number of Players
- Single-player
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Life Simulation, Farming, Exploration
