8 Minutes of Animula Nook Gameplay — Tencent Readies Free Alternative to Animal Crossing

It was recently revealed that the creators of Genshin Impact are developing rivals to Pokémon and Animal Crossing — and Tencent has now joined the competition.

At TGS 2025, the Chinese corporation presented a demo of Animula Nook. The title’s visual style calls to mind Nintendo’s offerings and appears aimed squarely at the same audience.

To bring Animula Nook to market, Tencent founded the studio LilliLandia Games several years ago. The team is now finalizing a free-to-play life simulator positioned as a calming, low-pressure experience. The game previously appeared in a trailer; at the show attendees were shown full gameplay. A demo is available at the exhibition, and over eight minutes of footage have been released.

Animula Nook already has a Steam store page. A release is planned for Switch 2, PS5 and PC, but an exact launch date has not yet been announced.

Source: iXBT.games