Sim-ilar lines

is an unusual title, but Astle names various reference points: ’s Chao Gardens, the and games, the humble Tamagotchi. “I should mention as well, having worked on that series.” It wasn’t his intent to make a -like game, but the influence is clear. The dogs have needs meters, and the game is broken up into three modes: live play, paused design and build. But the biggest link is in how quickly the game gets out of the player’s way and lets them decide how to approach it. “One of the things I took away from my time on is that they really stressed there are different types of players who engage with that game. People want different things out of experiences like this.”