Ooblets

Ooblets is a life simulation video game by Glumberland. It was released via early access on July 15, 2020, for Windows and Xbox One. The game launched on September 1, 2022, for Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Xbox One.

Gameplay
The game combines the farming elements of Story of Seasons with the creature collecting and battling mechanics of Pokémon.

The player arrives in Badgetown, a seaside town in Oob, where they are greeted by Mayor Tinstle and given a basic starting farm. In Badgetown there are several shops including Meed's Seeds, Kibbonbon, Manatweee and Cuddlecups Cafe. Players can purchase furniture and decor for their house, as well as seeds to grow on their farm. There are different quests that can be performed to unlock new shops and buildings, as well as improve the player's friendship level with the other residents. Players can also join one of four clubs: Frunbuns, Peaksnubs, Mossprouts and Mimpuns.

Ooblets, little creatures that the player befriends, can be grown from seed and used to perform tasks, like farming and machine operating, or dance-battle with other Ooblets. Unlike other life simulation games such as Stardew Valley, Ooblets replaces combat with a card-based dance-off system allowing new Ooblet seeds to be won and Ooblets to be levelled up.

Updates
Ooblets has received frequent updates to fix bugs and introduce new features and locations. On June 12, 2021, the Port Forward update was released bringing a new region and new Ooblets. As of July 2021, there are six locations in the game: Badgetown, Wildlands, Mamoonia, Nullwhere, Port Forward, and Pantsabear Hill.

Development
Ooblets (previously known as Moblets ) was developed by a two-person indie game development studio composed of artist/programmer Rebecca Cordingley and designer Ben Wasser, since 2016.

Storefront exclusivity controversy
The game was due to be published by Double Fine, but following that company's acquisition by Microsoft in June 2019, the Ooblets developers announced that they would instead self-publish the title. On August 1, 2019, it was announced that Ooblets would be an Epic Games Store exclusive. In the announcement by Glumberland's Ben Wasser, addressing criticisms of the Epic Games Store, he facetiously called those who he believed would pirate Epic Games Store exclusives "immature, toxic gamers", and that the situation was "nothing to get worked up about." The announcement led to backlash, including individuals sending messages to the developers voicing their displeasure. A fringe minority also circulated out-of-context or fake posts by Wasser, including a fabricated post of Wasser claiming that "gamers should be in gas chambers." Wasser later compiled his thoughts on the matter in a Medium post in August 2019, apologizing for acting in a hostile manner. Several fans who were shown in the screenshot conversations being spread clarified that they held no contempt towards Wasser, but noted that his responses on Discord were poorly worded.

On September 18, 2023, the developers announced they would be releasing the game on Steam on October 5 of that year.

Reception
The game received mixed to positive reviews from critics.