Palworld developers Pocketpair have revealed Palfarm, a new farming spin-off whose cheeky compound title implies the possibility of countless other Palspin-offs, from Paltrain Simulator to Palnetenverteidigungskanonenkommandant.
It appears to be a Palworld version of Stardew Valley, with players alternating between tending crops, mining the caves, battling wildlife, and bonding with the local NPCs. As in vanilla Palworld, you can capture Pals with different abilities and set them to work on tasks like sowing and watering. Here’s a trailer.
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As Eurogamer note, all this follows swiftly after the reveal of Nintendo’s new Pokémon spin-off Pokopia, which also involves farming. Nintendo are currently suing Pocket Pair for alleged patent infringement regarding the Pokémon series, which makes the announcement of Palfarm a bit like playfully tweaking the genitals of an enraged Pyroar while it’s trying to bite your head off.
You can read more about Palfarm on Steam. It appears to be retaining Palworld’s viral blend of whimsy and parodic cruelty. “On this island with its changing seasons, a relaxing farm life with Pals awaits!” chirrups the description. “Of course, eating your own Pals is absolutely out of the question!”
Later, there is mention of killing off Pals in the wilderness, because “after all, combat is a form of harvesting in its own way” and “sometimes what you reap might be red”. Congratulations, Pocketpair, you have triangulated the secret callousness of the videogame concept of “farming”.
There’s multiplayer, and a town with a commercial area and a hidden black market. The black market appears to be run by a pipe-smoking blaggard with a very large revolver. You can play Russian roulette with him, seemingly. You can also push snowballs to make them bigger, and get married. No release date yet.
