What is Palworld? The Definitive UK Guide

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It’s not often a video game comes along that makes your nan, your boss, and your favourite newsreader all ask the same question: “What on earth is this ‘Pokémon with guns’ thing?” In January 2024, that’s exactly what happened. A little-known game called Palworld launched and didn’t just sell well; it exploded. It sold millions of copies in mere hours, becoming one of the most-played games in history, seemingly overnight.

It was everywhere. You couldn’t scroll through social media without seeing a fluffy sheep-like creature wielding a machine gun or a cute penguin being used as rocket launcher ammo. The game was chaotic, controversial, and utterly captivating. But behind the memes and the madness, what is Palworld, really? Is it a shameless copy of other famous games, a clever satire on capitalism, or just a brilliantly fun, messy adventure?

This guide will break it all down. We’ll explore what you actually do in the game, meet the creatures at the heart of it all (the Pals), unravel the controversies that have followed it since day one, and look at what the future holds for this unexpected global sensation. So, grab a brew, get comfy, and let’s journey to the Palpagos Islands.

Core Concepts: So, What Exactly Is Palworld?

If you had to describe Palworld in a single breath, you’d say it’s an open-world, monster-taming, survival crafting game. That’s a bit of a mouthful, so let’s unpack what it means. Imagine you took the creature collecting of Pokémon, mashed it with the base-building and survival of Minecraft or Ark: Survival Evolved, and sprinkled in the freedom to explore of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That’s Palworld.

You’re dropped into a sprawling land called the Palpagos Islands with basically nothing. From there, you have to survive. This means managing your hunger, staying warm, and defending yourself from the elements and the wild creatures roaming the land.

The gameplay boils down to a simple but addictive loop:

Survive: You start by doing the classic survival game dance: punching trees for wood, picking up stones, and crafting basic tools like a stone axe and a workbench.
Catch: Soon, you’ll craft Pal Spheres, which are Palworld’s version of Poké Balls. You find a creature (a Pal), rough it up a bit in a fight to weaken it, and then throw a sphere to try and catch it.
Build & Automate: This is where Palworld really sets itself apart. Once you’ve caught a Pal, you can put it to work at your base. Some Pals are good at chopping wood, others can mine stone, and some can even water your berry patches. Before you know it, you’ve got a bustling, automated factory line staffed entirely by your new creature friends.
Explore & Fight: With your base sorted and your team of Pals assembled, you can venture out into the world. You’ll discover new areas, find more powerful Pals, and take on huge bosses in ancient towers. And yes, this is where the guns come in. You can craft everything from a simple bow to a full-blown assault rifle to help you on your way.

At its heart, Palworld is a game about freedom. You’re free to be a friendly Pal trainer, a ruthless industrialist, a brave explorer, or a bit of everything all at once.

The Infamous ‘Guns’ Element

Let’s be honest, the guns are what got everyone’s attention. The sight of a cute, cuddly creature holding a massive firearm is jarring, funny, and a little bit shocking. In the game, both you and your Pals can use weapons. You can fight alongside your team, shooting down enemies while your Pal attacks with its own special moves.

For some Pals, this is taken a step further. The cheerful penguin-like Pengullet, for example, can be loaded into a rocket launcher and fired at enemies (don’t worry, it usually gets back up, slightly dazed). A fan-favourite Pal, the big yellow Grizzbolt, can whip out a minigun and lay down suppressing fire. This dark humour is woven into the very fabric of Palworld, setting a completely different tone from the wholesome monster-taming games that inspired it.

The Stars of the Show: A Deep Dive into Pals

The creatures, known as Pals, are the absolute core of the game. There are over 100 of them to find and collect in the Early Access version of the game, each with its own unique design, skills, and personality.

They aren’t just tools for fighting; they are your workforce, your transport, and your companions. Every Pal has specific skills that make it useful around the base. A fire-type Pal like Foxparks can be used as a living flamethrower or can cook your food and smelt ore at the base. A water-type like Fuack can help water your crops. Building a successful base is all about finding the right Pals for the right jobs.

Types, Elements, and Iconic Pals

Much like in Pokémon, Pals have different elemental types, such as Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, and Dark. These create a rock-paper-scissors system in combat. A Fire Pal is strong against a Grass Pal, a Water Pal is strong against a Fire Pal, and so on. It adds a layer of strategy to battles, forcing you to build a balanced team.

Some Pals quickly became famous after the game’s launch:

Lamball: A fluffy, rolling sheep. It’s one of the first Pals you’ll meet and is surprisingly useful for producing wool at your base.
Cattiva: A pink cat-like Pal that always looks a bit worried. It’s a great early-game worker, helping with mining, gathering, and carrying things.
Chikipi: The game’s token chicken. Easy to catch and a reliable source of eggs for your breakfast.
Depresso: A gloomy, slouching blue creature that captured the hearts of players everywhere. As its name suggests, it looks perpetually miserable, but it’s a hard worker when it comes to mining.
Grizzbolt: The unofficial mascot of the game’s chaotic side. This chunky electric bear with its minigun became the symbol of the “Pokémon with guns” tagline.

The Dark Side of Pal Taming

Here’s where Palworld takes a sharp turn away from its colourful inspirations. The game gives you the tools to be a rather questionable boss.

Every Pal has a SAN (Sanity) meter. To keep them happy and productive, you need to feed them regularly, give them beds to sleep in, and maybe even a hot spring to relax in. If you neglect them, their SAN drops. They’ll get stressed, injured, or just plain refuse to work. The game basically lets you run a fantastical Victorian workhouse, and you have to decide how ethical you want to be as a manager.

But it gets darker. You’re given two very controversial tools: a butcher’s knife and the Pal Essence Condenser. If a Pal is no longer useful, you can… well, butcher it for resources. It’s a grim but practical part of the survival experience. The Condenser allows you to sacrifice multiple Pals of the same type to make one of them much more powerful. These mechanics shocked many players and cemented Palworld’s reputation as the edgy, adult-orientated take on the monster-taming genre.

The Story Behind the Surprise Hit

A game this massive doesn’t just appear out of thin air, but Palworld’s rise felt like it did. The story behind it is just as surprising as the game itself.

Who are Pocketpair?

Palworld was created by Pocketpair, a small independent studio based in Tokyo, Japan. They were far from a household name. Before Palworld, their most notable game was Craftopia, another ambitious title that blended mechanics from various genres like open-world RPGs, farming simulators, and factory automation games. Craftopia was fun but a bit janky, and it gave Pocketpair a reputation for creating games that were a chaotic mash-up of popular ideas.

The development of Palworld wasn’t easy. The CEO, Takuro Mizobe, has been open about the studio’s struggles. They worked with a small team and a modest budget, and many doubted they could pull off such an ambitious project. The first trailers for Palworld, released a couple of years before the game’s launch, were met with a mix of excitement and deep scepticism. Many people saw the designs and thought, “This will get sued into oblivion before it ever comes out.”

The Launch Explosion: How Did It Get So Big?

On 19th January 2024, Palworld launched into Early Access on Steam and Xbox Game Pass. The explosion was immediate and unprecedented.

It sold over a million copies in its first 8 hours.
Within three days, it had sold five million copies.
It reached over 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam, the second-highest number in the platform’s history. To put that in perspective, more people were playing Palworld at the same time than the entire population of Manchester.

So, what caused this gaming big bang? It was a perfect storm of factors:

The Perfect Hook: “Pokémon with guns” is a genius marketing tagline, even if it’s an oversimplification. It’s memorable, funny, and instantly tells you what to expect.
The Power of Game Pass: Launching day-one on Xbox’s subscription service was a masterstroke. It meant millions of players could try the game without having to buy it outright, massively reducing the barrier to entry.
Streamer Fuel: Palworld is incredibly fun to watch. The unpredictable physics, funny bugs, and dark humour provided endless content for streamers on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, who broadcast the game to their millions of fans.
A Quiet Month: January is typically a slow month for big game releases. Palworld launched into a relatively empty field, allowing it to completely dominate the conversation.
Genuine Fun: Most importantly, beneath the controversy and the memes, players discovered a genuinely engaging and addictive game. The loop of catching, building, and exploring just works.

The Great Debate: Plagiarism, AI, and Asset Flips

You can’t talk about Palworld without talking about the controversy. From the moment it was revealed, the game has been dogged by serious accusations from gamers and industry professionals alike.

The Plagiarism Allegation: Are the Pals Just Pokémon?

The most significant controversy revolves around the Pal designs. As soon as the game was released, players began posting side-by-side comparisons of Pals and Pokémon, and some of the similarities are… striking. A Pal might have the same colour scheme, body shape, or specific features as a well-known Pokémon.

[Image comparing Palworld designs and Pokémon designs]

The accusations got so loud that The Pokémon Company, which is notoriously protective of its intellectual property, issued a statement. They said they intended to “investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.” However, as of late 2024, no legal action has been taken.

Pocketpair has firmly denied plagiarising designs. They insist that Palworld is legally sound and that while it was inspired by the genre, it’s an original creation. Legally, this is a very grey area. You can’t copyright an art style, but you can copyright a specific character design. The question is whether any Pal designs cross the line from inspiration to outright copying.

Fuel was added to the fire when old posts from Pocketpair’s CEO surfaced showing his enthusiasm for generative AI art tools. This led many to believe that the Pals were created by feeding Pokémon designs into an AI, though there is no concrete proof that this happened.

Is It Just an ‘Asset Flip’?

Another common criticism is that Palworld lacks originality, that it’s simply a jumble of mechanics stolen from other, more successful games. Critics call it an “asset flip,” a term for a game made cheaply by mashing together pre-made assets and ideas.

There’s no denying the influences. The survival mechanics feel like Ark. The gliding and climbing are straight out of Zelda. The monster-taming is Pokémon. The base-building feels like Valheim. However, fans argue that while the individual ingredients are familiar, the way Palworld combines them creates a new and unique flavour. It’s the first game to successfully blend the monster-taming and survival-crafting genres on this scale.

Why Did Palworld Resonate So Deeply?

Beyond the gameplay and the controversy, Palworld struck a cultural nerve. It wasn’t just a game; it was a phenomenon that tapped into several modern gaming desires.

A Satire of Capitalism?

One of the most fascinating interpretations of Palworld is that it’s an accidental satire of capitalism and industrialisation. The game gives you tools to capture wild creatures, fence them in, and force them to work for you 24/7 on an automated production line. You can choose to be a kind master, but the most efficient path to success is to be a ruthless one.

The game never wags its finger at you for this. It simply presents the system and lets you engage with it. This led many players to reflect on the themes of exploitation and labour in a way that a more preachy game never could. Are you really any different from a ruthless factory owner, optimising your workforce for maximum output?

The ‘Mature’ Pokémon We Never Got

For years, adult fans who grew up with Pokémon have half-jokingly wished for a more mature, grittier version of the game. They wanted a world that felt a bit more dangerous and complex than the perpetually sunny and child-friendly regions of the official games.

Palworld, for better or worse, delivered on that fantasy. It’s a world where your cute companions can be genuinely hurt, where survival is tough, and where the moral choices are murky. It tapped into a huge, underserved audience of gamers who loved the idea of monster-taming but were ready for a version that had grown up with them.

A Practical Guide: Getting Started in Palworld

Thinking of diving in? Here are a few tips to help you survive your first few days on the Palpagos Islands.

Choose Your Platform Wisely: Palworld is available on PC via Steam and on Xbox consoles (and PC) via Game Pass. Historically, the Steam version has received updates faster than the Game Pass version, so if you want the latest content, Steam is usually the best bet.
Your First Hour: Don’t try to be a hero. Your first goal is to build a base. Find a flat area with plenty of trees and rocks nearby. Craft a workbench and start building a small wooden shack to protect you through the night.
Catch a Workforce: Your first catches should be Lamballs and Cattivas. They are easy to find and can help you gather resources, which will massively speed up your progress.
Craft a Bow: Don’t try to catch Pals by whacking them with a club. Craft a bow and some arrows as soon as you can. It lets you weaken them from a safe distance, making catching much easier and safer.
Don’t Pick a Fight with the Big Boys: You will see giant, high-level Pals like the mammoth-like Mammorest wandering around the starting area. Avoid them. They will flatten you in seconds. Come back when you have better gear and a stronger team.

What’s Next for Palworld?

The biggest question on every player’s mind is: can Palworld last? The history of gaming is littered with breakout hits that faded away once the initial hype died down. Pocketpair is facing the enormous challenge of keeping millions of players engaged.

They have released an official roadmap outlining their plans. Key features they’ve promised include:

PvP (Player vs. Player): This will allow players to battle each other with their teams of Pals, including a dedicated ‘Pal Arena’ mode.
Raid Bosses: Challenging end-game content where multiple players can team up to take down a single, super-powerful boss.
New Islands, Pals, and Technology: Expanding the world with new places to explore, new creatures to catch, and more things to build.
Cross-play: Allowing players on Steam and Xbox to finally play together.

The challenge will be delivering this new content while also fixing the numerous bugs and performance issues that come with an Early Access title. The future of Palworld rests on the small studio’s ability to scale up and support a game that became bigger than their wildest dreams.

Conclusion: A Messy, Brilliant Moment in Time

Palworld is more than just “Pokémon with guns.” It’s a chaotic, ambitious, and deeply flawed masterpiece of genre-mashing. It’s a game that asks you what would happen if you gave a Pokémon trainer a mortgage to pay and a factory to run. It doesn’t always have the most polished answers, but the questions it raises are fascinating.

Was it a shameless clone? A stroke of indie genius? A lucky accident? The truth is, it’s probably a little bit of all three. Palworld is a testament to the modern gaming world, where a wild idea from a small team can capture the global imagination, spark furious debate, and, for a few wild weeks, become the biggest thing on the planet. Whether it lasts forever or fades into memory, its explosive arrival has left a permanent mark on the video game landscape.