Ex-Skylanders devs announce Voidling Bound, a monster-taming game that looks more Spore than it does Pokemon

Remember Spore? I never played the original one myself, just that crappy one Spore Creatures on the DS, but I've long appreciated what Spore was trying to do from afar. There's an almost whimsical macabre feeling to it, playing god and all that, leading a creature down the path of evolution. You don't see too many games like that these days, though today's a bit of an exception given the announcement of Voidling Bound, a monster-taming/ gene splicing game from a team made up of former Skylanders devs.

I bring up Spore because while you do seem to collect up different critters, the titular Voidlings, a comparison to Pokemon doesn't really feel apt. There's no turn-based combat, it's all third-person and action-focused, not to mention the fact that you actually play as the Voidlings a majority of the time it looks like. The main concept of the world is that you're a Space Wrangler, and there's a nasty parasite that's threatening to kill off all life. So, naturally, you take to genetically modifying Voidlings to help you survive.

Voidling Bound - Official Reveal Trailer

Watch on YouTube

There's different evolutionary lines you can head down for different Voidlings, which is about Digimon-esque in nature I suppose, and they're customizable too, both stats-wise and looks-wise. I'm not entirely sold on their designs, good designs are kind of a make-or-break situation for me and monster-taming games, but the core concept sounds solid so it could be a good game to tinker around with.

That's mostly it on details for now, there's no release date to be found, though it's apparently due out in 2026. If it takes your fancy, you can wishlist Voidling Bound on Steam.