Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99Subscribe now Essential Hardware Battlefield 6 PC Gamer quizzes! Recommended reading Survival & Crafting Palworld just got a huge Terraria-themed update, which as it turns out is a lot less ridiculous than Silent Bob in Warzone Peak dev would rather you pirate Peak than play a 'microtransaction Roblox slop ripoff' A 'slavish clone': Sony is suing Tencent over a game that looks startlingly similar to Horizon Zero Dawn As the Nintendo eShop fails to protect from 'eslop', indie devs reflect on how it affects their work and why Steam is just better: 'Their algorithm will more or less naturally bury AI slop' 2023's true GOTY has had its name and assets jacked by 'some kind of crypto scam,' while bootlickers assure the dev it's actually great publicity Survival & Crafting The Tencent survival game being sued by Sony quietly purges most Horizon-like content from its Steam page, bumps release date to late 2027 Battle Royale The Fortnitification of every videogame is really starting to grate on me Survival & Crafting In what was likely a karmic inevitability, Palworld now has its own shameless imitator on the Switch Lincoln Carpenter 13 August 2025 Behold: Palland. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: BoggySoft) While Nintendo might've found a way to bring Pocketpair to court over patents it arguably shouldn't have been awarded in the first place, it's telling that even its military-grade legal hit squad didn't try to nail Palworld for its Pokemon knockoffery. But while I'll defend Palworld's legal right to pretend Dinossom isn't just Lilligant's flower and Meganium's face stapled to a green Goodra body, that doesn't make it any less grimy. This week, however, Palworld has found itself on the other side of the sincerest form of flattery: Allow me to introduce Palland, a shameless attempt to fool anyone who only has the patience to read the first three letters of a game title and a particularly egregious example of the kind of slop Nintendo is content to let fester on the Switch store (via Kotaku). Palland - Nintendo Switch 2 Gameplay - YouTube I might find Palworld distasteful, but Palland is aesthetically demonic. For only $4, it claims to offer "a captivating survival, building, and exploration game" in "a vast and dangerous environment" where "you decide how to gather resources, expand your shelter, and deal with wild creatures that can be both threats and valuable sources of power." Related Articles Palworld just got a huge Terraria-themed update, which as it turns out is a lot less ridiculous than Silent Bob in Warzone Peak dev would rather you pirate Peak than play a 'microtransaction Roblox slop ripoff' A 'slavish clone': Sony is suing Tencent over a game that looks startlingly similar to Horizon Zero Dawn In reality, it's a dire, shambling morass of pasghetti creatures and generic assets where the trees look like tonsil stones and every sound is horrible. Watching Palland gameplay videos on YouTube is like rotating in a microwave of apathetic contempt. But you can shoot the monsters with a gun if you want. You know, like Palworld. Notably, however, it doesn't look like you can capture any creatures in ball-shaped objects, which spares Palland from entering the same legal hot water that Palworld was dunk-tanked into in Nintendo's patent suit. And for what it's worth, its monsters don't really look like Pokemon underneath the bleary AI vaseline of its store banner. They don't really look like anything. Except bad. While I wouldn't put it past Nintendo to leave Palland's listing up out of pettiness, it certainly hasn't been in any rush to flush the rest of the knockoff sludge from the Switch store. To be fair, Steam has no shortage of blatant ripoffs, though in cases like Light of Motiram—which Sony has called a "slavish clone" egregious enough to take Tencent to court—they can sometimes be shamed into straightening out their act. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Lincoln Carpenter Social Links Navigation News Writer Lincoln has been writing about games for 11 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Palworld just got a huge Terraria-themed update, which as it turns out is a lot less ridiculous than Silent Bob in Warzone Peak dev would rather you pirate Peak than play a 'microtransaction Roblox slop ripoff' A 'slavish clone': Sony is suing Tencent over a game that looks startlingly similar to Horizon Zero Dawn As the Nintendo eShop fails to protect from 'eslop', indie devs reflect on how it affects their work and why Steam is just better: 'Their algorithm will more or less naturally bury AI slop' 2023's true GOTY has had its name and assets jacked by 'some kind of crypto scam,' while bootlickers assure the dev it's actually great publicity The Tencent survival game being sued by Sony quietly purges most Horizon-like content from its Steam page, bumps release date to late 2027 Latest in Survival & Crafting Former DayZ lead thinks survival games should let players tinker with every variable: 'Here's the keys. Have fun' PlayerUnknown's new survival game makes building a simple campfire feel like a real accomplishment, and that's something a lot of survival games are lacking Roblox's top experience Grow a Garden is shifting into a 'new era' and promises deeper farming after a series of disappointing updates: 'I hope the community can see this change as a positive attempt to keep the game fresh and enjoyable for everyone' 'Everyone's little monkey brains like shelter and food': Subnautica 2 designer says primal instinct is the reason we're so drawn to smashing blocks of wood into weapons The Tencent survival game being sued by Sony quietly purges most Horizon-like content from its Steam page, bumps release date to late 2027 'You'll now be at the mercy of what loot you can find': Rust's latest update brings back hardcore mode tougher than ever, removing the ability to craft guns entirely Latest in News If this beta is any indication, Battlefield 6 isn't all that serious about supporting closed weapons I think Dungeons and Dragons peaked in 1982 and that's why I can't wait to play this 'hand-drawn black and white dungeon crawler' coming next year 'This year seems shakier than ever,' BioWare veteran Mark Darrah says, and live service games are a big part of the reason—but Grand Theft Auto 6 might force the industry to change Steam payment headaches grow as PayPal is no longer usable for much of the world: Valve hopes to bring it back in the future, 'but the timeline is uncertain' Team Fortress 2 player cooks themselves by destroying a Golden Frying Pan worth $6,800—for the second time My most anticipated fantasy tabletop RPG of 2025 is available now, and it's got a free demo in the form of a gorgeous interactive comic HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Mafia: The Old Country review—A failed experiment and a bitter disappointment Arctic Xtender PC case review Corsair Platform:4 gaming desk review Wildgate review — A brilliant concept that's too clever for its own good Acer Predator GM9000 2 TB NVMe SSD review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Accessibility Statement Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Please login or signup to comment Please wait...