Petal Runner spotlights Pokémon-style pet care at BitSummit

Nano Park Studios presented Petal Runner at BitSummit in Kyoto, showing a 2026-bound game built around caring for digital creatures called ‘HanaPets.’ The playable demo traded combat for short minigames focused on cleaning, repairing and delivering pets to homes and businesses.

Players control Cali and her white fox HanaPet, Kira, as they move through pastel, pixel-art towns. The studio ran the same demo at the festival and on Steam; a Nintendo Switch release has not been confirmed.

Lead writer Lauren Crown described the setting as a world without natural animals, where all creatures are manufactured HanaPets. The demo separates Gen 1 pets, now rare except for Kira, from Gen 2 creatures that live in Leap Cells-flower units that supply energy.

Gameplay uses quick arcade-style minigames to tend to corrupted or needy HanaPets. Challenges typically last about five seconds and include actions such as rapidly moving the left joystick to scrub a dog, mashing the A button to help a cat eat, and lateral movement for a ping-pong style mouse task. The demo contained seven minigames, and the team is expanding that list for the full release.

Story sequences move between small deliveries and a larger opening sequence that involves stealing an android sensor and confronting a corrupted HanaPet. Completing the minigames cleanses the pet, which in one instance revealed a unique creature called Root Zero that aided a lab escape. Players register found HanaPets in an in-game encyclopedia and deliver them to shops and residences in locations such as the demo’s North Valley.

A sidequest follows a boy named Percy tracking a glitchy sprite nicknamed The Boy, a character that began as a development joke and became part of the narrative. The quest ends with Percy deciding to study the creature rather than alter it, a choice left for the player to observe.

Dialogue and portraits provide much of the demo’s tone. Kira’s animated portrait appeared alongside dialogue, HanaPets asked for ‘snax,’ and town residents offered both main tasks and optional errands. Crown characterized the project as primarily story-based, saying, “Petal Runner really is primarily story-based. It’s about Cali and Kira and that relationship you have with your childhood pet that grew up with you and how important that is.”

Nano Park has not finalized the total number of minigames or confirmed all target platforms. The studio plans a full release in 2026 and is continuing work on minigame variety and platform support ahead of launch.