Niantic's cute new virtual pet app Peridot is a very different beast to Pokémon Go, and all the better for it. Simplistic on the surface but stuffed full of bleeding-edge AR technology underneath, the Tamagotchi-like app is born from years of progress by Niantic's creative and technological halves, resulting in the developer's most interesting project since Pokémon Go in 2016.
Pokémon Go's lightning in a bottle launch inspired a string of cookie cutter follow-ups from Niantic itself and other competitors, to mixed success, featuring familiar riffs on real-world exploration gameplay. Peridot offers something quite different: an inverse of the typical map-based experience, where the app's AR component is now the main interface.
At its most basic level, Peridot is more Nintendogs than Pokémon: a gentler experience featuring adorable creatures that use your real-life surroundings, wherever you are, as their playground. Powered by Niantic's latest advancements in AR, your Peridot pet recognises and reacts to the world around you - outside on the grass, indoors on the sofa, hanging out with friends, or alone watching TV. Peridot is smart enough to recognise where you point your phone camera and have your creature explore accordingly - jumping atop tables or worktops, or momentarily disappearing out of sight when passing behind foliage or trees. One of the most impressive examples of this can be found when playing fetch with a tennis ball - which, when thrown, will bounce naturally off any nearby walls or other obstacles.