Peridot, Niantic's new mobile game is a mixture between Tamagotchi and AR

What you need to know

• Niantic is the company behind the popular Pokémon Go mobile game.
• Today Niantic announced a new mobile game called Peridot which has players taking care of digital creatures.
• This pet simulation game doesn't have a release date, but is will come to iOS and Android this month.

Niantic became a household name in 2016 when it released the AR mobile game, Pokémon Go, which centers around finding and capturing Pokémon by walking around. But today, Niantic announced that it is working on a brand new pet simulator called Peridot that allows players to care for virtual pets, take images with them in the real world using Augmented Reality (AR), play with these creatures, and even breed them.

For those of us who were kids in the 90s and early 2000s, this will sound a lot like the popular Tamagotchi and Neopets digital pet simulators of the day, only now you'll be able to take care of your creatures and participate in activities directly from your phone.

The point of the game is to raise your Peridots, or Dots for short, from infancy to childhood by helping them do basic things like find food, make a safe place to sleep, or play with them. Apparently, the games AR will allow these creatures to hide behind things in the real world. For instance, you might go on a walk and your Dot could hide behind a tree. The AR also allows your Dot to forage for specific items that are found in the real world. For instance, if you're near a pond, your Dot might forage for kelp.

Doing various activities with your Dot allows it to acquire XP, which in turn helps it to grow up. Once grown to maturity, you can choose to release them. in locations where other Dots roam. Dots have different types or "Archetypes" such as Unicorn, Cheetah, Peacock, Metallic, Glitter, and Rabbit. So you can spend your time trying to unlock them all. You can even breed Dot together to get a brand new creature to raise.

The game is slated for a soft launch for both iOS and Android devices in select markets sometime this month, but no exact launch date has been revealed yet. However, those who are interested can pre-register on Peridot's website.