Pokémon Pokopia’s director envisioned an Animal Crossing-inspired game while designing landscapes for Ruby and Sapphire, aiming to let players “create their own Pokémon world.”

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Shigeru Omori, senior director of Pokopia, shares that the game’s concept originated during his time at Game Freak in 2001, where his first task involved placing grass in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.

In a conversation translated by an outlet, Omori, a long-time director of the Pokémon series, reveals the inspiration behind Pokopia. As one of three individuals who began prototyping the idea after the release of Scarlet and Violet, he envisioned a Pokémon-themed sandbox city builder.

“The foundation of the game, or rather the seed of the idea for the game, came from when I started work at Game Freak in 2001 on Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and my job was to place the grass,” Omori explains.

While many might shy away from the idea of touching grass, Omori aimed to share the joy of grass placement with players. “When I’m working on a game, I use something like an editor to place patches of grass, and Pokémon can jump out of these areas,” he notes. “Though I’m doing this as a creator, I found it very interesting. I wanted to make a game that would give users the experience of creating their own Pokémon world.”

With the announcement that the number of players creating their own Pokopia islands together is virtually limitless, everyone will soon have the chance to engage in entry-level work on a mainline Pokémon game.

After spending 90 minutes with Pokémon Pokopia, I’m convinced this could be the coziest game since Animal Crossing, and I can’t wait to invest hundreds of hours into it.