Reaching the top on its first day and going head-to-head with the big players—how has this year’s first “Animal Crossing-like” game performed?

At the end of July, this year’s first “Animal Crossing”-style game, *Mimimaha* (hereinafter referred to as *Mim*), launched its open beta as scheduled.

Developed by Qutang Technology, the game is a new life simulation title led by Ricky, the producer of *Moore’s Village*, who founded the company.As early as the beta testing phase, it had attracted significant player attention with its dreamy fairy-tale aesthetic and “Paloo-like” pet-catching gameplay, garnering over 10 million pre-registrations before its launch. In the “Animal Crossing-like” genre—which major domestic studios have all dabbled in—“Mim” has emerged as a hot “frontrunner.”

*Mim* has performed well in open beta, claiming the top spot on the iOS Free Chart and No. 1 on TapTap’s Trending Chart on its first day of release.

However, due to design details such as seed limitations and pet capture drop rates, *Mim* also faces the common challenge encountered by *Animal Crossing*-style mobile games: how to maintain a sense of comfort and the emotional connection between players and characters in mobile game design.

Are “Animal Crossing”-style mobile games really that hard to make? Before the open beta, to understand the game’s design philosophy, Tea House sat down with *Mim*’s producer, Ricky, for a chat that offers insight into the product’s development journey.

01

Starting Point:

*Moore’s Village*

For Ricky, *Mim* is the spiritual successor to the *Moore’s Village* mobile game. The decision to develop *Mim* stemmed both from a desire to make up for past regrets and from his deep-seated belief in life simulation games.

This conviction stems first and foremost from his “first love,” *Moore’s Village*. As for how he stumbled upon this life simulation game, Ricky says it was purely by chance.

During his student days, two windows of interest opened in his mind. One was the revitalization of Chinese animation; this window closed quickly after he spent some time at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, as the environment proved too comfortable. A year and a half later, in 2005, he moved to Tencent Games to work as a game designer on *QQ Pet*, thereby opening another window.

The idea for the *Moore Manor* browser game originated from their experiences on a business trip. Ricky recalls that once, while traveling by train with the producer of *QQ Pet*, he noticed that the children sitting across from them were all playing *QQ Pet*. It was then that they realized, “There’s still a gap in the children’s gaming market.”So, they decided to start their own company and dive into this field.

In 2008, Taomi Network launched the *Moore’s Manor* browser game.The round-headed Moore and Ram pets quickly took schools by storm, amassing over 50 million registered users within a year of launch and becoming a phenomenon in China’s children’s life-simulation game market. Ricky also made the transition from game designer to producer while working on the *Moore Manor* browser game.

*Moore Manor* Web Game

Afterward, Ricky worked on several children’s browser games, including *Moore’s Garden* and *Sail Number*. Starting in 2012, he spent five years at Giant Network.While working on *Bubble Battle*, he discovered that many players had played *Moore Manor* as children; however, due to the heavy pressures of adult life, they had since shifted their focus to competitive games. This sparked the idea in his mind to “create a casual life simulation game” for these grown-up players.

However, at that time, due to the impact of mobile games, the *Moore Manor* browser game had been left behind by the times, which he found deeply regrettable. Coincidentally, in 2017, after receiving an invitation, Ricky decided to return and revive the old IP, launching the *Moore Manor* mobile game project.

“Mobile games are completely different from browser games,” Ricky explained. Not only are the gameplay mechanics different—the browser game was aimed at children and consisted of a collection of mini-games—but the “Moore Manor” mobile game features a career system, emphasizes a life-simulation experience, and targets users over the age of 20: the now-grown-up “Moore Manor” players.

At the time, the company—which primarily focused on children’s games—was surprised by his decision, and Ricky had to go head-to-head with them on several occasions to defend it.Ultimately, a small team of 20 spent over two years developing the game. In 2021, on its first day of release, the revamped *Moore’s Manor* mobile game surged straight to No. 2 on the mobile game sales chart. However, due to insufficient content reserves and other factors, the game’s popularity rapidly declined within less than a month.

*Moore Manor* Mobile

When discussing the *Moore Manor* mobile game, Ricky is filled with regret.At the end of 2021, he chose to leave the company once again: “I’d rather be a producer than a manager.” Using the *Moore Manor* mobile game as a starting point, Ricky and like-minded colleagues launched a new project. They established four key concepts for it: healing, pet-catching, low-stress gameplay, and exploration.

After a year-long hiatus, in November 2022, he posted an update on Weibo, dedicating the song “See You Again” to “Moore Manor”; a month later, Ricky released a promotional video for “Project M” on his personal video channel. This project later became “Mim.”

02

Spiritual Sequel:

Creating a Pet-Catching Game with a Stronger Sense of Companionship

In terms of gameplay experience, *Mim* feels like a spiritual successor to the *Moore’s Garden* mobile game.

Players will find a familiar setup in *Mim*: acquiring a pet to keep them company, chopping down trees, planting crops, completing orders, and turning a deserted island into a home.Only this time, thanks to upgraded visuals, *Mim* feels more like a dreamy fairy tale—players transform from round-headed Moors into pastoral girls wearing straw hats and blue dresses, piloting a flying house that explores freely through a sea of clouds, much like the one in *Up*.European pastoral greenery accented by bronze-colored exhaust pipes gives the flying house a distinctly “punk” look.

In the end, the pastoral girl in the straw hat and blue skirt was chosen

as the flying house in *Mim*.

According to Ricky, to create a global product, the team conducted ten months of testing and research both domestically and internationally regarding art and gameplay during the project’s planning phase.

In terms of gameplay, *Mim*’s experience is divided into four modules: flying house exploration, capturing Mims, building a home, and social interaction. The core gameplay experience revolves around the fantastical creatures known as “Mims.” Their early goal was clear: to create a pet-catching game that is “more soothing and offers a greater sense of companionship.”

Upon entering the game, players will first set out to capture the round and plump Mims. Just like in *Pokémon*, *Mim* also features its “starter trio”—Blue Mouse, Peach Monkey, and Fluffy Ha.Mims are round in shape; Ricky drew inspiration from the glutinous rice balls he loved as a child, making them look “like something players would want to take a bite out of.”

Mim will feature “farming,” “battling,” “raising,” and “emotional companionship” mechanics.

For players who enjoy farming simulations, Mims can lighten their load. Different Mims have their own specialties. Place them in various farming areas of your home, and they’ll diligently water plants, chop wood, and mine stones. As Mims level up, their item production rates also increase.

The pet-raising experience is also rich and varied. Players can bring a team of Mims into battle to increase their capture rates. Two Mims can also go on dates to pair up, and by hatching them, players can unlock new forms. Each Mim has its own unique personality.Peach Monkey frantically swings its tail to collect stones, but prolonged work can cause it to go on strike or get moody. When this happens, dark clouds gather above its head, and it walks listlessly. Players must pet its head or play music for it to cheer up.

An Unhappy Mime

At the same time, the game streamlines management and interaction, simplifying in-game harvesting activities—such as catching insects, chopping down trees, and breaking rocks—into a single “harvest” action. When plants mature and sprout like bubbles, players need only pull out their harvesting tool to reap the harvest steadily, much like sweeping fire from a machine gun.

Harvest in One Go

After collecting items and completing more orders, players earn coins and experience. Experience points raise the Manual level, unlocking more gear and expanding the home island. Coins are used to buy clothing and furniture to customize their appearance and build their dream home.

Ricky notes that Dream World encourages “unrestricted creativity,” allowing players to defy the laws of physics and build “castles in the air.” The blueprint feature makes beautifying your island even easier.

In contrast, the game’s overall social design is relatively restrained. Friends can visit each other’s homes, but players can also disable the “steal crops” feature. Even when flying to the multiplayer areas of themed islands, players can travel alone by plane, holding an umbrella, or riding a Mim vehicle as they explore the Giant Tree Islands, fully immersing themselves in the storyline.

At the same time, the team has also designed plenty of surprising “chance encounters.” When players are capturing Mims, holding hands with a stranger nearby can increase the capture rate.

Each themed island is a distinct miniature world, and new Mimm Life Islands will be added as well. Following the Giant Tree Island, the team revealed that they will introduce the Eternal Night Forest, the Island in the Sea, and the Desert Kingdom.Ricky noted that the current 50-person team, supported by outsourced art talent, will continue to release more themed islands in future updates, hoping to present players with a series of “delicious treats.”

Previously, Ricky worked on *Sel Number*, a pet-catching game geared toward male players, but he noticed that pet-catching games favored by female players remain scarce. “The former focuses more on training and combat, while the latter places greater emphasis on emotional engagement. During the beta testing phase, female players accounted for as much as 80 percent of *Mim*’s player base.”

He added, “There’s still significant room for exploration in the pet-catching genre geared toward female players.”

03

Common Challenges Faced by *Animal Crossing*-Style Mobile Games

Common Challenges

*Mim* offers a smooth and addictive overall experience, but a glance at the player comments reveals polarized reviews—and offers a glimpse into the common challenges faced by *Animal Crossing*-style mobile games.

In 2020, the Nintendo Switch version of *Animal Crossing: New Horizons* sparked a wave of stay-at-home gaming fever in China, and its signature “healing” experience triggered a surge in the development of social and life-simulation games. As a result, subsequent 3D life-simulation mobile games often seem to be labeled as “Animal Crossing-like.”

*Mim* also falls into the “Animal Crossing-like” category due to its “soothing” label. It features a well-established resource cycle, as mentioned earlier, and has put significant effort into both its art style and pet-catching mechanics.

Based on player feedback, it’s clear that as a pet-catching game popular among female players, they particularly enjoy the building and management mechanics as well as the pet-raising elements. On social media platforms, there’s already a wealth of high-quality user-generated content (UGC) inspired by *Mim*’s building mechanics.

Home Island has become a hotbed of inspiration for players. Under the maple trees on Home Island, building a platform, placing some greenery, and adding a few lounge chairs transforms the area into a hot spring paradise where players can sit and daydream or lie back and soak in the waters.Behind a flying house lies a waterfall, with a stilted pavilion perched above it; climb the steps to admire the waterfall while sipping tea or fishing high above the ground. There are also “master builders” who have transformed humble cottages into three-story mansions and even turned small islands into forest-themed towns.

Player-Generated Content

At the same time, however, according to some player feedback, when combined with Mim’s stat-based progression, daily quests, and the monetization design—which is hard to avoid in F2P mobile games—this soothing experience can sometimes turn into a math problem, becoming a dilemma that troubles both players and the development team.

For example, players have mixed opinions on the daily seed purchase limit. Some meticulously calculate the prices and costs of their produce to ensure a profit and avoid losses. Others, though impatient, factor in the processing time for plants and realize there’s no need to rush. Still others timidly ask, “Am I the only one who can’t plant all 600 seeds every day?”

The essence of “healing” actually lies in a sense of freedom and immersion—it’s not merely a label indicating whether a game requires “grinding” or not. For example, as a one-time-purchase single-player game, *Animal Crossing: New Horizons* isn’t actually a walk in the park. To expand their house, players need to buy and sell turnips to pay off their mortgage. But on a day-to-day basis, players can also chat with residents and give them gifts.None of the tasks come with strict time limits or numerical requirements. However, if mobile games in the Animal Crossing style were to incorporate numerical objectives and systems, they might disrupt players’ flow experience and their expectations of a therapeutic experience, posing a challenge for game design.

*Animal Crossing*

In fact, it’s not just *Mim*; in recent years, other games emphasizing a soothing atmosphere—such as *Little Forest* and *Traveling Frog*—have also faced similar challenges.At the same time, as the pace of life accelerates, players’ gaming time has become increasingly fragmented. Striking a balance between player immersion and the game’s long-term sustainability in design is a common challenge facing this genre.

In response to player expectations, the *Mim* team has proven very receptive to feedback. Since launch, the team has been collecting player feedback and continuously optimizing the game. On August 8 alone, the project team rolled out nearly 50 bug fixes, 10 quality-of-life improvements, and 3 new features.In the home-building gameplay, the team added the highly requested “Undo” function for home placement and an “Unbind” button, and announced that a feature allowing players to recycle components for gold coins will be added in the future. Regarding the pet-catching gameplay, the capacity will be increased, and the game has also added features such as “Collect” to prevent accidental taps.

In the upcoming update, new features such as popular home recommendations and new character facial features will be introduced. This clearly demonstrates the team’s commitment to player suggestions and the product itself.

Furthermore, the development team noted that, as part of the “Animal Crossing-like” genre, *Mim* aims to emphasize companionship and emotional connections. One of the team’s key challenges is figuring out how to help players build emotional bonds with in-game NPCs, characters, and Mims—bonds that extend beyond simply completing quests or having casual conversations.

Conclusion

From the earliest *QQ Pets* to the life-simulation browser game *Moore Manor*, which took campuses by storm in 2008, and on to the new life-simulation title *Mim* in 2025, Ricky has been active in the field of children’s games and life-simulation products for nearly 20 years.

Each product has its own growth trajectory. As for *Mim*, it may be difficult to simply label it as “Animal Crossing-like”; rather, it is a new sprout nourished by past works. However, whether this new sprout can grow into a mighty tree again remains to be seen.

From creating casual life simulation games for players who’ve outgrown *Moore’s Garden* to developing a pet-catching mobile game for today’s young women, how will this new game be received? Even for Ricky, a veteran of the life simulation genre, he candidly admits in *A Letter from the Producer*: “‘I was still very anxious the day before launch.’”

Two questions weighed on his mind: User demands are constantly evolving—could they keep up with the current market pace? Would players dislike MIM’s gameplay model?

Since the game’s official launch, it’s clear that *Mim* is tackling these two challenges head-on. By striking a balance between a soothing experience, mobile game design, and long-term operations, *Mim*’s practical experience offers a valuable model for future challengers to follow.