Not only is Palworld a worthy competitor to Pokémon, many other titles also want to have fun in the genre. The developers behind TemTem recently announced their new game. In a new statement, they explain that they do not want to be the Pokémon killers
.
Which game have the TemTem developers announced? Recently, the developers from Crema announced their new game TemTem: Pioneers. Unlike the original TemTem, which used turn-based battles in the style of Pokémon, Pioneers wants to explore other genres.
The game is supposed to gather survival, collecting the TemTems, and action RPG battles in one game. This makes it almost reminiscent of Palworld. Unlike in Palworld, however, you actively take on the role of a monster in battle and fight with short combos against other creatures. All this should also work in co-op.
As part of the announcement, there was also a Kickstarter campaign. In just 8 hours, the requested goal of €90,000 was reached. Some people like to refer to such games as Pokémon killers. But the developers now reject this designation.
The TemTem developers are fans
What do the developers say about the term Pokémon killer? In a statement on X.com, the developers behind TemTem commented on the term. The term is currently resurfacing, but they do not see themselves as Pokémon killers.
TemTem: Pioneers is another love letter to the genre of monster taming, but no substitute for any of the others
. With Pioneers, they want to offer another adventure in the fantastic
genre.
In the comments, the developers specify the statement again after a comment called the first TemTem the original Pokémon killer
(via X.com). They explain that such a label is not fair and that they never had the intention of using it. According to the response, they all love the 25-year gaming series, and they hope that they can just be themselves this time
.
Can there even be Pokémon killers
? The Pokémon franchise is gigantic. The latest main entry in the series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, sold over 28 million copies (via nintendo.co.jp). That is a number that only a few games can reach.
But there are also many games in the monster collector genre besides Pokémon. Even before the first Pokémon in 1996, there were games focused on catching monsters as a mechanic. For example, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei from 1987 or Dragon Quest V from 1992. However, Pokémon likely had the pure focus on catching the monsters first.
If you are not on a Nintendo console nowadays, there are some good alternatives that also expand the genre outside of Pokémon:
- Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2025)
- TemTem (2022)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (2024)
- Coromon (2022)
- and of course the survival game Palworld (2024)
These are all alternatives with different approaches but are not Pokémon killers
.
The company behind Pokémon is not popular with many fans when you look at how they deal with competitors
. The legal dispute with Palworld has been ongoing for some time. A patent of the Pokémon Company has now been revoked by an authority: Authority revokes Nintendo’s patent that would harm games like Palworld and even Diablo
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!