UNLEASHING PLAYFUL SQUISHES: THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF PUNIRUNES TO THE US

Created for a time when digital communication reduces our physical interactions, a strange new Japanese digital pet promises to bring the two together. Story continues below advertisementCalled Punirunes (stylised as punirunes), the object is a digital pet, but it doesn’t interact like most of its predecessors. Rather, Punirunes are a novelty: squishy, gooey, strange-looking, and fun to play with. Punirunes will land Stateside this summer.

WHAT MAKES PUNIRUNES STAND OUT?

At first glance, Punirunes might appear like any other digital pet toy. But look again: its core gesture – a doughy button activated by sticking an entire finger into a hole on the side of the device – is a quirk unconventional enough to give the design its name. That name comes from the Japanese mimetic *punipuni, a word that means ‘squishy’ but also carries an implication, says Ishiguro, of ‘sucking in something with your mouth’. The digital pet’s tiny tabby fur or plushy, porcupine quills itself to the user’s skin, reinforcing the vivid sense of participation that the full-colour visuals deliver together. The result is a fundamentally different kind of bond, a palpable emotional transaction between player and pet.

ENGAGING WITH YOUR SQUISHY COMPANION

After all, the whole point of Punirunes is that you can play with your little pet in several different ways. You can pat it on the head, brush its back or use its body like a mop. All of these behaviors are variations on the basic squish action. While the little pets begin as tiny blobs, with just a few dots for eyes, they quickly become more rounded and take on all sorts of different, animated traits as you care for them. There are 55 different characters to raise, and six built-in games all involving the squish feature.

Discovering New Dimensions of Play

From bouncing your character through a portal to a marketplace to simmering concoctions in a cooking mini-game, every interaction stacks another meaning on your sense of being plugged in. Accessories and decorations for your room add further possibilities for personalisation, ensuring that no Punirunes experience is identical to another.

THE CULTURAL PHENOMENON OF PUNIRUNES

It was first launched in Asian markets in 2021 by Takara Tomy and quickly went on to conquer the world, spawning a franchise that includes an anime series that was launched in 2022. In the past, many entrepreneurs have tried to build another digital pet, but as far as I know only Takara Tomy has succeeded. What makes Punirunes so compelling is its combination of a new form of gameplay with an ideally suited metaphor to capture the pleasure of care and companionship.

The Leap Across the Pond

The adventurous journey of Punirunes to the US was long awaited. As part of an exclusive licensing agreement for punirunes with Spin Master, the company behind such hits as Paw Patrol and Hatchimals, punirunes is set to carry on its legacy internationally with the teal shell variation offering a more modern take on the digital pet format, combining the novel squish play impulse with accessible and engaging content.

WHY PUNIRUNES COULD BE YOUR NEXT DIGITAL COMPANION

And, with the US release right around the corner, Punirunes is a harbinger of things to come in the world of digital toys: a sensory twist on the old virtual-pet formula, Punirunes is both familiar and new, and accessible for anyone looking for a thoughtful gift to add to their collection.

Making Sense of Punirunes' Appeal

The most astute appeal of Punirunes lies in the tactile novelty it incorporates into digital gameplay. This key differentiator not just enriches the games’ sense of immersion, but also makes for a more interactive, more individual user experience. Through touch, a virtual pet can become the real thing.

The Final Verdict

But even if Punirunes is little more than a toy, its existence suggests a new way of thinking about play, one that bridges the gap between the digital world and our tactile play-things. As it spreads across the US, this squishy digital pet could finally usher in a new way to think about caring for a digital pet, and what it truly means to play with something digital. With its cute characters, its tactile gameplay, and the novelty of its squish mechanism, Punirunes could be the catalyst that helps make digital pets less generic, and more lovable. And it might help us remember what it feels like to be moved by something novel and strange.

UNDERSTANDING THE SENSE IN PUNIRUNES

It’s Punirunes’s focus on the tactile dimension, though, that lies at the core of the game’s original design and play. As every owner of a Tamagotchi, pet fish or puppy knows, pets make for exceptional and deeply rewarding digital companions. And since not all of us will ever get pets of our own, the digital ones might just have to do. But while every one of these digital-creation/pet-rearing sub-genres has the potential to become a surprisingly engrossing mini-experience, Punirunes is far more than that – and it’s precisely because of its tactile character. By making it a physical act, Punirunes engages the users in a way that strengthens the emotional bond to the animal and to the game itself. Besides that, Punirunes is also innovative because it taps into a neglected dimension of screen-based experiences – the importance of the sense of touch. By incorporating visuals and sounds on a flat screen, players are offered a sensory, tactile experience that engages them in a way similar to how humans experience nature. Thanks to the computer-generated creation of reality, the fictional world of the game becomes palpably real – and that’s probably why users get attached to their Puni. Punirunes isn’t a game. It’s an experience.