An overview of Project Skitter's features.

Project Skitter (working title) is a monster-raising game and virtual pet game that focuses on the care you give to your monster. Rather than a game where monsters are simply battle tools or weapons, monsters are your companions and pets which rely on you for care. Sure, you are training your monsters to be good at something, but like horse trainers or dog trainers, you also are taking care of a dependent being that needs you.

A prototype of the "barn" area where your monsters live.

Instead of going off on grand adventures with your monster-weapons, Skitter takes place on a farm where you decide to make a living by raising monsters for competition. You raise your monster in a barn, feeding it and caring for it every day. You can also build and upgrade facilities around your farm where your pet monster can work and play.

Instead of just fighting, monster competitions will come in three varieties: sparring/wrestling matches, in which the monsters battle each other to decide a champion; pageant/talent competitions in which only the most graceful and intelligent monsters may win; and track racing, a sport for the speediest of pet monsters to be victorious. There will also be a "triathalon" or "ultimate trial" where all of a monster's potential skills will be put to test, for the most serious of breeders and trainers.

The focus of the game is on care of monsters, so no two monsters are alike. Even if you raise two of the same monster species in a row, you may find they grow very differently. Each monster, regardless of its species, will have different interests and talents. Your monster may love studies even though it is very bad at them, or it might hate running and racing even if it is talented and quick.

As a player, you can choose different ways to raise your monster. You may work with its natural talents and interests to raise it in a way that comes naturally, or you may try to influence these factors as it grows, to turn it into the competitor you want.

Your farm will also grow with your choices -- you may decide to have a cash farm full of crop fields where you put your monster to work to make money. You may decide to build training facilities to produce top fighters. You may decide to expand to a large farm and develop a variety of assets to raise a well-rounded fighter or suit any need a monster may have.

In Skitter, every player will have a unique experience. Every monster will feel like "yours," your farm will feel like "yours," and you can compare your strategies and ideas with your friends who are playing, as well.

The game plays out using a turn-based system themed on time. Whenever you care for your monster, train your monster, go shopping, or do other activities, they will make some amount of hours pass during the day. As it gets later in the day, you will run out of things to do (stores will close and your monster will go to sleep) and you can choose to go to bed to progress to the next calendar day. Time will not pass if you are not doing anything, so you can think about what you would like to do each day with no pressure of wasting your day by thinking or planning.

As the days go by, seasons will change and various events can occur. You will celebrate a pet's birthday every year. Contests will be held for you to participate in. There may be events held in town for you to enjoy.

Here is a list of Skitter's prominent features, so you can see how the game compares to others in the virtual pet and monster-raising genre:

* Experience the life of your monsters from birth to passing.
* Every pet monster is an individual and has the potential to excel in any field.
* Raise your monsters for racing, sparring, showcasing, farming, or just as pet companions.
* Expand and build your ranch the way you like to suit your personal goals.
* Mostly "numberless" training so you don't get bogged down worrying about EXP points and stats.
* Monsters will change in appearance based on the way they are raised.
* Many random events and random outcomes, so you never raise the same monster twice.
* Turn-based time system incorporates thoughtful strategy into how you plan your activities.