Sakumon shows that the creature collector craze isn't dying anytime soon on mobile

• Sakumon is out now on iOS and Android, feeding into the collectible critter craze
• Collect Sakumon, battle them, and socialise on the multiplayer island
• But in an interesting twist, Sakumon is revisiting the idea of physical toys as digital collectibles!

It's quite the coincidence that earlier today I covered Aniimo and its latest global beta. And it seems they're not the only ones pursuing the creature-collector craze that seems to be in vogue at the moment. But while Sakumon may not be as high-profile, it does have a lot going for it.

Sakumon, out now on Android and iOS, is as typical as you can get for the genre. You play a young child collecting the titular Sakumon, battling them against your friends, and exploring a social hub island. But it's where real life meets Sakumon that things get interesting.

Go figure

Sakumon, as it turns out, is going the Skylanders-slash-Disney Infinity route of having collectible figurines that you can use to unlock Sakumon in-game! It's an interesting idea for sure, and while I certainly haven't seen them in the shops yet, they are live online over on the Sakumon site.

I admit, before hearing about that, I was struggling to find something which stood out about Sakumon. But this is an interesting twist on the format, and coupled with the social gameplay and multiplayer components, it makes for a compelling package.

Of course, like all multiplayer games, we'll have to see if Sakumon gets the audience it needs to gain traction. Moreso than that, it'll have to defy the same issues that have faced other, larger companies which have tried to combine physical collectibles and digital content. Could Sakumon be the one to crack the code? We'll just have to wait and see.

Still, Sakumon is only one of a myriad of interesting new launches that've come out this week. If you're not sure where to start when checking them out, take a look at our list of the five new mobile games to try this week for some of our picks!