In the wake of a vision of global harmony courtesy of Pokemon Go, it's undeniable that the creature-catching series is about as mainstream video games around. Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Mickey Mouse, perhaps even more. The ongoing frenzy around trading card values guarantees near-daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games go viral annually.
However despite that ubiquity and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These represent titles that didn't get their fair shake, or were overshadowed by the hype of the core series. They're Pokémon games released on ill-fated consoles or services, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have blossomed if they had received sequels or contemporary re-releases. Considering these factors, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and typing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
Too many Pokémon games focus on the battling aspect of the series, and far too few of them focus on the everyday realities that would come with owning a pet. Admittedly, there are small features like these in modern games—players may play with your monsters in bases. However, I'm dying for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Wii isn't it. The digital-only title is best seen as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to hold monsters from various titles. Reviews from its release said Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to argue against these notions, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the closest we've ever gotten to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game takes place on a farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—simply hang out with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into cockfighting. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of coexisting with a small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its complete potential. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the upcoming Switch exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life sim.
Ranch was released well before Stardew Valley kicked off the enduring trend of cozy games. It was before the rise of idle games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't playing. Many never realized that Ranch's concept to observe your creatures as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so remarkable, there's a Twitch stream focused on running the game 24/7. The individual who runs the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he still has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an official board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the tabletop experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest forays into the world of freemium mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could pay to win—and there was motivation to do so, given the slow progression for new figures.
All of these poor design choices obfuscated a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, approachability, design, and features in general," another commenter declared. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was marred by server issues. Technical problems, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people few incentives to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, it's unclear things would end better. The unique board structure made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that playing field is also a intimidating eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Experiment
Man, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a premise so absurd, it was verging on internet meme. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of useless monsters who literally can't do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the ultimate version of the notorious fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter competitions to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, forces the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the community love around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's merciless random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games would do, like offering a diverse range of the same species of monster. It's understood it's not feasible for any Pokémon game to have 30 different colorings and patterns for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a particularly sophisticated or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that permanently influence how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the conversation when 2026 GOTY season rolls around.
Given dozens of core games and spin-offs, it's probable that I omitted that particular Pokémon game you totally love but argue that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball with affection despite argu
