HoYoverse's upcoming life sim Petit Planet wears plenty of inspirations on its sleeve, although Clarkson's Farm is not one I was expecting to count among them.
The upcoming title from the makers of Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and more sees players farming and decorating a series of small planetoids populated by a cast of humanoid animals.
On an initial glance, the gameplay is clearly inspired by 2020's Animal Crossing: New Horizons, while the curving planetary locale is reminiscent of Super Mario Galaxy.
At a recent media event in Seoul, Petit Planet's developers explained some of the influences behind the game, giving special attention to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic novella The Little Prince, the story of a boy who lives on a tiny asteroid.
Want to see this content?
This page contains content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.
But when asked about further influences, lead artist Yinli Huang divulged a rather more unexpected source.
"I recently watched a documentary called Clarkson's Farm," he explained, "So that also shares [with] us lots of inspiration about how planting and running a farm can bring pure joy to daily lives."
Clarkson's Farm, the sixth season of which is currently in production, follows former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson as he wrangles with the struggles of running a farm with no experience.
From a purely farming point of view, it's certainly easy to see how a TV show about running a farm could have an influence on a game like Petit Planet.
But walking around your cutesy planet surrounded by these adorable, well-mannered animals, doesn't exactly evoke the kind of vibe that Clarkson is known for.
That being said, I've never run a farm nor developed a game about farming, so what do I know?
In our Petit Planet preview earlier this year, we found it to be a promising life sim with the quality to rival the likes of Animal Crossing, and we're excited to see if that promise pans out when it releases early next month.
Petit Planet releases on 4 December 2026 for PC, iOS and Android.
Check out more of our to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to .