Image Credits:<\/strong> Photos by TechCrunch using Niantic\u2019s Peridot app<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sometimes, though, the game\u2019s ability to assess its surroundings is impressive. Already at launch, Peridots can recognize and interact with humans and animals. Alec Bohm the Peridot had a great time getting to know Bruce the dog, though he was a bit skittish at first.<\/p>\n

Even if my Peridot can recognize real-world animals, there are some comically silly drawbacks to the game\u2019s technology. Sometimes, your Peridot might want to go forage in the grass, sand or water, and the game uses AI to identify what terrain is in view. If you\u2019re not by a body of water, some beta testers have found that you can simply show your Peridot a bottle of blue mouthwash or a photo of water to trick the game. I have a tapestry of a forest, which the game registers as a grassy habitat \u2014 a house plant will also do. It\u2019s reminiscent of the early days of Pok\u00e9mon GO, when people would put their phones into a bag that they tied to a ceiling fan to simulate walking.<\/p>\n

After years of work, Peridot is finally available for iOS and Android users (so long as you have a relatively recent phone model that can support the AR game engine). An underrated challenge for Niantic has been the ability to get players to commit to more than one game; for example, as a dedicated Pok\u00e9mon GO player, the idea of picking up Pikmin Bloom seemed like too much to juggle when I\u2019m already in the habit of catching Pok\u00e9mon when I go for a walk. But Peridot is very easy to play in small, few minute spurts, even if you don\u2019t physically take your creatures for walks, since they can forage at nearby habitats without you.<\/p>\n

Peridot is a lot of fun, but I haven\u2019t even been playing for a whole week yet. My Peridots are still young and growing, but once they reach maturity, there will be little left to do but breed new eggs. And if you can only accomplish that by spending $5, then Peridot might see a steep drop in it user numbers. Or, Peridot could cultivate a dedicated enough fanbase that the drop off won\u2019t matter much, so long as there are enough players paying to play. After all, Pok\u00e9mon GO may no longer be the hot new thing, but it\u2019s still making billions of dollars from in-app purchases every year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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