Last year, I had the chance to play an early demo of slice-of-life RPG Petal Runner at Summer Game Fest 2025, and it was a highlight of the show for me! From iam8bit and developer Nano Park Studios, this gorgeously pixelated adventure follows Cali and their foxy sidekick Kira as they explore the four districts of Sapphire Valley in their dream job as Petal Runners, motorcycle carriers who deliver digital pets called Hanapets. Riding around town on a sleek motorcycle and installing Hanapets via fast-paced minigames serve as the title’s bread and butter gameplay.
The game takes visual and thematic inspiration from the GBC Pokémon games, WarioWare, cyberpunk anime, and Studio Ghibli films like Kiki’s Delivery Service. This diverse array of inspirations shone through during the time I spent with Petal Runner this year at Summer Game Fest, and my conversation with the developers afterward encapsulated the passion they put into this game. Let’s get to it!
This new demo felt great to play, focusing on a later section of the game’s story than last year’s did. As such, the characters, gameplay, and setting felt already established, so I was able to dive right into the Hanapet deliveries and city exploration!
A brief introduction to Cali’s quirky cast of Petal Runner coworkers and a refresher on the Hanapet installation minigames kicked the demo off. I loved the friend group dynamic at play, not to mention the fun connection between Cali and Kira themselves. The writing brought these characters to life in a believable way that I appreciated. As for the minigames, these bite-sized, WarioWare-esque sequences were just as fun as I remembered, with some new variations thrown into the mix.
Cali and Kira were then tasked with making two Hanapet deliveries around town. The city district opened to exploration at this point, and I loved wandering around town, speaking to all the NPCs, and discovering what this world had in store. So much so, that I ran out of demo time before even finishing the second delivery! This was a multi-level district with much to see, with highway ramps connecting different floors that you could drive through on the motorcycle.
For example, I ran into one of Cali’s fellow Petal Runners out and about in the city, which led to them issuing Cali a more difficult Hanapet installation challenge with quicker minigames. Running into optional side content like this in the demo was a delight, and I’m looking forward to finding out what else awaits in the full game!
New Petal Runner Screenshots
I then got to chat with the developers about their inspirations, thematic goals with Petal Runner’s story, and more. They shared how they were interested in exploring on-the-job challenges with the title, and how they wanted the arc between Cali and Kira to be a focal point of the story.
As players will see in the full release, their relationship encompasses all aspects of being a pet owner, in all its goofiness and seriousness alike. The developers shared how balancing these tones posed a particular challenge, but that designing the four city districts of Sapphire Valley allowed for space to play with these different tones.
Finally, the developers commented on how they want players to get lost in the game world and to experience the special relationship between Cali and Kira, even for non-pet owners, in the way that they represent childhood friends coming of age.
Thank you to Nano Park Studios and Summer Game Fest for giving me the chance to play this game again! Petal Runner is coming to PC via Steam sometime in 2026. Stay tuned to RPGFan for all the latest coverage on RPGs, Summer Game Fest, and beyond.
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