Pawprint Studio had one of the more memorable debut moments at Summer Game Fest 2025. Their open-world creature collector Aniimo turned heads during the Xbox Games Showcase with colorful creature designs and a premise that blended Pokemon-style collecting with Palworld's open-world survival energy. Wishlists climbed. Hype built. The game was free-to-play, which made it even easier to get excited about.
Now it's out, and the Steam reviews tell a more complicated story.
What players are actually saying on launch day
Aniimo currently sits at a "Mixed" rating on Steam, and the negative feedback follows a familiar pattern for free-to-play games that lean hard into monetization. The core complaint isn't that the game looks bad or plays terribly on a surface level. Players who bounced off it are pointing at what sits underneath the creature-collecting loop.
One Steam review describes it bluntly: "Behind all the flashy visual flair is a mind-numbingly easy, boring gameplay loop built solely to push you toward aggressive monetization. The sickening amount of predatory gacha mechanics and aggressive pay-to-win walls completely ruin any sense of genuine progression."
Another puts it more plainly: "It's very much a gacha game. When I see that you're able to spend money to obtain rare items and end-game Aniimo, it turned me away from the game. I don't mind paying for cosmetics or features that don't affect gameplay, but it's disgusting how you're pushed to spend money here."
That second review captures the specific frustration better than most. The issue isn't that Aniimo charges money at all. Plenty of free-to-play games with cosmetic shops earn goodwill from their communities. The problem players are flagging is that the monetization hooks into actual progression and creature acquisition, which is the core activity the entire game is built around.
The charm is real, even if the monetization isn't
Here's the thing: not everyone is walking away disappointed. Positive reviews consistently highlight the creature designs as genuinely appealing, and a number of players are drawing comparisons to Infinity Nikki alongside the expected Palworld and Pokemon references. One review describes it as "giving Palworld x Infinity Nikki vibes," which is a combination that makes a certain kind of sense when you look at the art direction.
The awkward writing and heavy hand-holding in early gameplay are secondary complaints that show up across both positive and negative reviews. Those are fixable with patches. The monetization structure is a different kind of problem.
What most players miss when they dismiss the positive reviews entirely is that the creature-collecting side of Aniimo does seem to work on its own terms. The problem is that the gacha system creates a ceiling on that experience for players who aren't spending. When the best creatures in the game are locked behind pull rates rather than exploration or skill, the open world starts to feel like a loading screen for the shop.
Sixth on Steam charts despite the controversy
The mixed reception hasn't stopped people from downloading it. Aniimo reached the sixth spot on Steam's top-played charts at launch, which is a genuinely strong debut for a new IP from a studio releasing its first game. Free-to-play titles have a built-in advantage here since the barrier to trying it is zero, but chart placement at that level still requires real player interest.
Pawprint Studio has a window here. The creature designs are landing, the world has visual appeal, and the game is drawing comparisons to titles with dedicated fanbases. The question is whether the studio will treat the monetization feedback as signal or noise.
If you're jumping in and want to make the most of the free content available, knowing which Aniimo to pick from the Prismana Pact gives you a solid foundation without spending anything. The Prismana Pact offers one free creature from a pool of 18, and the choice matters more than it might seem early on. Browse the full Aniimo guide collection to get up to speed before the gacha walls start appearing.
