Wildaria is a brand-new, procedurally generated open-world game on Steam that lets players catch animals and use them in battle. While its creature-collecting mechanics are clearly inspired by Pokemon games, its art style and visuals may remind some players of Stardew Valley. Wildaria entered Steam early access on October 8 and has since earned very positive user reviews.
Solo developer SpaceFudge started working on the game in January 2021 and has dedicated over 5,000 hours to building its massive worlds. His hard work is now paying off, as the game sold a substantial number of copies in its first week and earned a 100% positive user review score from its first batch of players on Steam.
Wildaria Is an Endless World of Cute and Vicious Pets
- Genre: Open-World, Procedural Generation, Creature Collector, Cozy
- Developer: SpaceFudge
- EA Release Date: October 8, 2026
- Price: ~ $15 USD
One thing that helps Wildaria distinguish itself from other open-world creature-collecting games is its procedural generation. The world is described as “never-ending” because the game keeps creating new locations based on the four biomes in the early access version. Wildaria also takes a different approach to collecting animals, offering a more deliberate system than the standard Pokeball mechanics in Pokemon games.
Wildaria Gameplay Features
- Collect different pets with various stats and elemental abilities
- Use pets in combat or ride them
- Meet locals and trade with them
- Take on quests and explore the world
- Search the never-ending map for rarer creatures
- Fight animal gods
- Complete the Pokedex-style compendium known as the Wildapedia
Developer SpaceFudge says, “I didn’t want taming to be a ball thrown at the character and an RNG dice roll.” That’s why he created the Bubble Lasso mechanic, which serves as this game’s equivalent of a Pokeball. When players throw a Bubble Lasso at a target, a minigame begins that’s loosely inspired by fishing in Stardew Valley. Players must constantly reposition and hold the lasso in the right direction to catch the animal successfully. While there are ways to improve the odds of catching animals, the Bubble Lasso mechanic keeps the process from feeling dull and repetitive.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
According to Wildaria‘s Steam page, the early access edition has over 40 collectible creatures. Developer SpaceFudge has already added a few more pets since launch, and this could become a pattern players can expect. For the 1.0 release, the developer plans to introduce over 100 more creatures, which could make Wildaria one of the biggest GBA-style creature-collecting games on Steam. Even better, future updates will add multiplayer to Wildaria, offering an entirely new way to experience its massive world.
Developer SpaceFudge has already added a few more pets since launch, and this could become a pattern players can expect.
Wildaria is expected to remain in Steam early access for about two years, with the developer committed to regular updates and patches. Those looking to add the game to their Steam collections might want to act fast, as a 10% launch discount currently brings its price down to about $13 USD. However, the offer is time-limited and ends on October 15. In the coming days, it will be interesting to see whether Wildaria can attract more fans of Pokemon-like games and make a name for itself in this crowded genre.