Ahead of the Game: Capybara Go is a love letter to capybaras - and the irresistible appeal of being idle

• Go through each day as a capybara and encounter roguelike elements along the way
• Experience text-based events, catchable pets, and mountable mounts
• Those pesky humans will rue the day they invaded your home

Hello and welcome to Ahead of the Game, a series where we tell you all about an upcoming game that, despite not being out yet, is available for you to play at the time of publishing. Through this series, you can grab a chance to play games well ahead of their release date, be that through Soft Launch, Open Beta, Demos, or more.

Regional releases are always a bit of a hassle for us covering news (Is it out? Is it global? Will pitchfork-wielding fans march into my home if I say it's launched but it hasn't?), but the thing about early access games is that we can at least get a sense of something without all the bells and whistles of an official launch. It's easy to get lost in launch banners and limited-time events that clutter up what a game is actually all about, but a quiet soft launch does away with all that - a chance for people to truly experience the gameplay with no extra frills.

Enter our weekly Ahead of the Game feature, where we put these aforementioned early releases and regional launches on centre stage. Read on to discover your next favourite time-waster, or to find a reason to wake up every morning with a renewed sense of anticipation for the day.

This week, it's all about super chill capybaras lazing around in an onsen with slices of yuzu floating about. It's an image that's practically synonymous with these beloved rodents, and rightly so. There's just something about capybaras that inexplicably urges you to do nothing, which is why Habby's idea to merge capybaras and idle gameplay is such an inspired concept.

That said, Capybara Go does offer idle elements but with a text-based RPG twist - you essentially go about your day fighting both monsters and humans as a lone capybara, because they've invaded your home and it's up to you to exact your revenge on the world. That epic quest, while noble, isn't exactly idle work, but given how adorable your plump little capybara is, it's hard to resist.

Now, I can't, for the life of me, understand just how something that's a relative of a rat be this cute, but I will die on this hill claiming Habby's version of the capybara is one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life. Sure, there's Survivor.io and Archero, but Capybara Go might just be the team's best mobile offering yet - just take one look at your capybara and I'm sure you'll agree.

Basically, all you really have to do is tap a button to progress through each new day, with your capybara warrior travelling through treacherous seas and fiery dungeons as you go along. The roguelike element keeps things spicy with unexpected encounters, whether it's a surprise attack from a pile of mud with a backpack or a crying blob of slime who just so happens to be a prince. 

Outside of battle, you get AFK rewards as expected, but you can also unlock mounts and hatch pets to have them fight by your side (a smiling thundercloud and a cactus with a boxing glove both count as pets, by the way). Then, it's all a matter of playing through that endless loop of levelling up, going through the roguelike levels, and keeping your capybara alive long enough to fight another day - a vicious cycle I'm willing to get stuck in for a long, long time.

So, how do you play Capybara Go?

Now, if you've drawn the short end of the stick and happen to be in a region where Capybara Go isn't out yet, fret not, as it's confirmed that a global launch is indeed imminent. In the meantime, here are the regions that can now embark on their capybara-ing adventure today:

• Asia (South, South East, West), Eastern Europe (Select), South & Central America, North Africa (Select nations) and South Africa (Nation, not region).

Otherwise, you can have a look at our Capybara Go codes to grab freebies and cosmetics for your capybara - mine is wearing a froggy onesie at the moment, which is all you really need in a noble warrior that's meant to save the world.