A new creature collector—one that combines Pokemon and Palworld with the roguelite formula of games like Balatro and Slay the Spire—is blowing up online, with the title blowing clear through its Kickstarter goals within 20 minutes. Titled Wonderful Neoran Valley, it became fully funded on Kickstarter (with a goal of $100K) in just ten minutes, doubled that goal in twenty minutes, and is over 700K as of this writing.
Wonderful Neoran Valley is described as a “Monster Collector Roguelite experience” on Kickstarter, where players will have to convince creatures to join up with them, to fight for them, and to help them uncover the dark secret of Neoran Valley. There’s a horror element to the game, plenty of creatures to collect (at least 70 at launch), and a roguelite gameplay loop at that. The creatures are called Neoran, which are described as an evolution of animal and plant life, and so far include the Poison Ivy-like Noctivora, the cosmic Owl Owrion, the penguin-pear Pero, the chunky bat Chugaloo, and a handful more. Players take on the role of the Knight, a clairvoyant who can predict enemy moves.
With 8,000 people contributing to the Kickstarter fund, it’ll be interesting to see how high its funding reaches. Kickstarter is still taking pledges for the rest of the month, after all, and Wonderful Neoran Valley has already fulfilled all but two of its stretch goals. The only ones remaining are FR/ESP localization if it hits 800K and voiceover work if it hits $1M, which certainly seems likely for the upcoming creature-collecting game.
Every Wonderful Neoran Valley Kickstarter Goal Fulfilled So Far (and So Fast)
- Rarities
- Challenge Mode
- 2 New Neoran NPCs
- Randomizer Mode
- At Least 15 Additional Neoran
- Hard Mode
- Endless Mode
- New Questline
- Brawl Mode
- First Try Mode
- Collector Edition
- Another New Questline
- Switch 2 Port
Alongside additional Neoran, the 600K mark also grants funding for a full team working full-time on Welcome Neoran Valley. That’s great for the developers, whereas the prior goal (Switch 2 port) was great for fans. Arguably, handhelds like the Nintendo Switch 1/2 and Creature Collector are the best platforms for a creature collector game and a roguelike game, meaning that the best possible hardware will be available for Welcome Neoran Valley at launch.
Of course, Welcome Neoran Valley is a big deal for fans of Pokemon and Palworld, with many hoping its development story and role in the industry unfold as Palworld‘s did. There is going to be a wait, however. The estimated deliverable date for Welcome Neoran Valley is March 2028, a whole two years from now as of this writing. The good news is that there’s plenty to play between now and then, even within the creature-collecting genre.
Pokemon Pokopia releases on Nintendo Switch 2 soon, with it being the highest reviewed game in the franchise—especially in recent years. Who knows what else Game Freak has up its sleeves as it works on Pokemon Winds and Waves for 2027, and Palworld is expanding as well with a cozy game in Palworld: Palfarm and a Palworld TCG. And that’s to say nothing about the myriad of creature collectors coming to Steam between now and then.
Still, Welcome Neoran Valley immediately landed with its players, and that’s self-evident from the massive spike in funding. It remains to be seen where the funding lands by the end of the month, but it would not be surprising to see it reach its final stretch goals, surpass $1M in funding, and its community go on to support the team.
