Temtem
Temtem is a 3D massively multiplayer creature-collecting RPG built around turn-based battles. Set out across the Airborne Archipelago, expand your roster of Temtems, and challenge other trainers as you work toward becoming a top tamer on the islands.
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Publisher: Humble Bundle Playerbase: High Type: Buy to Play Turn-based RPG PvP: Duels Release Date: January 21, 2020 (Early Access) Pros: +A substantial story-driven campaign. +Well-supported competitive focus. +Housing and personalization options. +Polished presentation. +Play the adventure in co-op. Cons: -Not a lot to do at the initial launch window. -Shares a very obvious visual and design lineage with Pokemon. |
Temtem Overview
Temtem takes the familiar loop of collecting creatures, building a team, and battling other trainers, then drops it into a shared online world. You travel between floating islands in the Airborne Archipelago, meeting colorful NPCs, capturing new Temtems, and steadily improving your squad through training and smarter team composition. The MMO layer is present throughout, you see other players in towns and routes, can trade and socialize, and the overall structure feels more like a connected online RPG than a strictly single-player journey.
The campaign is designed to be playable solo, but it is clearly built with cooperation in mind. With a partner, you can progress through story beats together and tackle trainer battles as a duo, which fits Temtem’s emphasis on double battles and coordinated play. The main narrative revolves around standing up to Clan Belsoto, giving you a clear antagonist while you move through the regions.
Where Temtem most noticeably separates itself from its inspiration is in how it approaches combat. The game aims for a more competitive, readable ruleset by minimizing randomness. Instead of frequently swinging outcomes on hit checks or sudden crits, fights lean more on planning, stamina management, type matchups, and anticipating what your opponent will do next. That design choice makes PvP duels and ranked play feel like a core pillar rather than an optional side activity.
Temtem Key Features:
- Full Fledged Story Campaign – Travel across six distinct regions, discover new Temtems, and push back against Clan Belsoto as the plot escalates.
- Co-op Gameplay – Team up with a friend and run the main adventure together, sharing progression and battles.
- Dynamic Online World – Explore the Airborne Archipelago alongside other players in a persistent online environment.
- Player Housing & Character Customization – Purchase a home, decorate it with furniture and colors, host visitors, and build a recognizable look with cosmetics and outfits.
- Competitive Battles – Jump into ranked matches with a pick and ban draft phase that rewards matchup knowledge and roster depth.
- No RNG – Battles are structured to avoid common randomness (such as accuracy checks and critical hit chance), keeping outcomes focused on decision-making.
Temtem Screenshots
Temtem Featured Video
Temtem Review
Temtem’s pitch is straightforward: take a creature-collecting RPG formula many players already understand, then build it with an online-first mindset and a stronger competitive backbone. In practice, it succeeds at making the moment-to-moment loop feel social and structured, even when you are simply traveling routes and filling out your collection. Seeing other players in the world helps the archipelago feel lively, and the game’s art direction gives each area a bright, modern look that reads well in 3D.
Catching and team-building are the core drivers. New Temtems come at a steady pace, and assembling a balanced squad is more than just picking favorites because the battle system pushes you to think in pairs, plan stamina usage, and consider how your two active Temtems complement each other. If you enjoy the “build a team, test it, refine it” loop, Temtem provides plenty of reasons to tinker, especially once you begin encountering tougher trainer fights that punish sloppy coverage.
The combat design is where Temtem earns its own identity. By reducing randomness, the game puts more pressure on consistent play and matchup knowledge. That can feel refreshing if you prefer strategy games where outcomes are explainable, but it also means mistakes stand out. When you lose a close battle, it usually feels like a decision problem rather than bad luck, which is exactly what competitive players tend to want.
Co-op is another highlight. Running the campaign with a friend turns routine battles into small coordination puzzles, and it helps the pacing during longer stretches of story progression. It also makes Temtem feel less like a traditional single-player RPG with optional online features and more like a true co-adventure.
The main caveat is content density during the early access launch window. The foundation is strong, but players looking for a massive endgame or constant novelty may find the available activities thinner than the polish suggests. Additionally, while Temtem is clearly competent in its own right, it does not try to hide its genre roots, and some players will bounce off how closely the creature-collecting presentation echoes Pokemon’s general silhouette and structure.
Overall, Temtem is best for players who want creature collecting with an MMO social layer, a co-op friendly campaign, and a battle system tuned for competitive play. If you primarily want a huge amount of content immediately or a radically different take on the genre’s visual language, it may be worth waiting until later in the game’s lifecycle.
Temtem Links
Temtem Official Site
Temtem Steam Page
Temtem Twitter Profile
Temtem Reddit Page
Temtem Facebook Page
Temtem Official Discord
Temtem Instagram Profile
Temtem Kickstarter Page
Temtem System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 10
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500 | AMD FX-8350 | AMD Ryzen 3 1200
RAM: 8 GB RAM
Video Card: GTX 660 TI | AMD R7 370
Hard Disk: 10 GB or more
Recommended Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 10
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz or better
RAM: 8 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce 970 | Radeon R9 290
Hard Disk: 10 GB or more
Temtem Music
Music details and notable tracks will be added here in a future update, including examples that highlight the game’s regional themes and battle atmosphere.
Temtem Additional Information
Developer: Crema
Publisher: Crema
Platforms: Windows PC
CEO: Enrique Paños
Game Director: Guillermo Andrades
Technical Artist: Adrian Andres
Art Director: Alex Muñoz
Daniel Barba: Lead Programmer
2D Artist: Andrea Corrons
3D Artist: Sara Tardon, Oscar Navarro
Animator: Manuel Martin
Programmer: Rafael Carneros
Narrative Designer: Victor Ojuel
Music & SFX: Damian Sanchez
Timeline:
Development Begins: August 2017
Kickstarter Launch: May 29, 2018
Alpha 1: November 2018 (projected)
Alpha 2: April 2019 (projected)
Alpha 3: August 2019 (projected)
Early Access Launch: September 2019 (projected)
Final Release: May 2020 (projected)
Development History / Background:
Work on Temtem started in August 2017 and represents the fifth title from Crema, a studio based in Madrid, Spain. Before Temtem, the team spent several years releasing smaller projects, including the mobile releases Instant Buttons, Oh My Goat, and Ridiculous Triathlon, along with Immortal Redneck. Unlike those earlier, self-funded games, Temtem’s development leaned on a Kickstarter campaign to both raise funding and keep the community closely involved during production. The project met and exceeded its relatively modest $70,000 goal quickly, signaling strong interest in an online creature-collecting RPG. Crema also outlined an aggressive roadmap, aiming to move through early alpha milestones soon after the campaign and reach a full release within roughly two years.