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Imagine this: You’re on the playground(or maybe the park) and decide it’s a good time to break out Pokemon GO or a similar app and go hunting for cute creatures that might be hiding around the landscape. This is the premise behind Critterrupters, the newest critter catching adventure being developed by Isle of Swaps dev Fuzz Force. I’ve been given the wonderful opportunity to play and share my thoughts on a pre-alpha build of it and I have to say, there is a lot of potential here.
In Critterrupters, Critterbyte catching has become the new popular thing. With a brand new CriTer(Critterbyte Terminal), it’s time for Alfa the Alpaca to embark on a new journey around Nikkolo Island, where they can find new Critterbytes and challenge the Islands clubs. Along the way, they meet a variety of NPCs and can even find Critterbyte TCG cards.
The pre-alpha demo I played had a handful of critters to find and download as well as a few cards to collect. I started with Pangolin, the nature type critter. Based on the description, it sounds like the full release will have a choice between Pangolin, Wallablaze(the fire type) and Aquatto(the water type) but for now, my starter is already picked for me.
Speaking of Aquatto, scanning the school area you start in can reveal opportunities to try to download it and the pigeon like Studit. To download a Critterbyte, you need to enter battle with them and you can choose up to three to engage, as well as up to three Critterbytes of your own to use. Since my Pangolin is all alone, facing multiple opponents gives it an “outnumbered” bonus. Which is honestly a pretty neat idea. Each opposing Critterbyte also comes with specific objectives you can complete to increase the odds of a successful download. Aquatto for example, needs to be poisoned a certain number of times while Studit simply requires specific health thresholds to be reached. I appreciate this twist on the standard formula as it adds a bit more strategy than simply weakening the Critterbyte(though that helps!) and you see these objectives as you scan the Critterbytes so you can adjust your team appropriately to better accomplish them if needed.
Battles operate a little differently from the standard turn-based formula we all know and love. For one thing, it’s real time based with a bar at the top that different Critterbytes slide across(some faster than others). A brief pause is given to choose a move and then the Critterbyte starts charging up to use it. If they get hit while charging, they get interrupted and have to start from the beginning. Add in type matchups which influence status effects as well as damage, and you’ve got a system that requires a little extra strategy and getting used to. It’s worth noting that a Critterbyte cannot be interrupted by a move it resists.
Other than scanning and attempting to download Critterbytes, I was free to explore a small portion of the island. Dotted around are a number of NPCs to interact with. I was able to talk to them and get some useful tips and gossip. Some NPCs can be battled as well, others can be asked to trade Critterbyte cards. A few had the option of doing all of these. It definitely made me want to talk to every NPC I could find just to see what they’d offer. Speaking of Critterbyte cards, a few could be found lying around. It was pretty cool to chance upon a Critterbyte TCG card I hadn’t seen yet. There’s a card shop too but it was bugged. When I stepped inside, the camera wouldn’t leave it when I exited, resulting in me losing my character. I’m sure it’ll get patched, but it was still a bummer.
If this little demo is anything to go by, Critterrupters is going to be a memorable experience when it fully releases. There were plenty of paths on the island that were blocked off, making me curious what lay beyond them. There are tons of Critterbytes to discover too, I only ever saw a small handful during my time but I loved the 8-bit pixel art used for them. Between them, and the TCG cards, my collector’s heart is going to be very excited when Critterrupters releases in early 2027.
Huge thanks to Fuzz Force for the preview copy. Be sure to follow them on Twitter or sign up on their website for updates! Thanks for reading!
