Following a vision of world peace courtesy of Pokemon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching series is about as mainstream video games in existence. Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The persistent frenzy around card prices guarantees near-daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a few million copies. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games go viral annually.
However in spite of that ubiquity and popularity, some Pokémon games that remain overlooked. These are games that didn't get their fair shake, or were buried by the hype of the core series. They're Pokémon games stuck on ill-fated consoles or online offerings, or were early forays onto new mediums. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that probably would have blossomed if they had received follow-ups or modern remakes. Considering these factors, this list will not be yet another recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Still, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for those possessing discerning palates, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Relaxed Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the combat element of the series, and far too few of them highlight the everyday aspects that would come with owning a pet. Sure, there are small features like these in recent entries—you can play with your monsters in bases. But I am longing for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its release noted Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to dispute these claims, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've ever gotten to a everyday life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a significant part of the draw was watching what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a tiny companion. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. One might cry 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzle game as it is a life sim.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley sparked the enduring trend of comfort gaming. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to observe your creatures as much as you play with them didn't mask a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so remarkable, a Twitch stream dedicated to running the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he even now has not encountered everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: nobody understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an licensed tabletop game with action figures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to adapt the tabletop experience in a more accessible form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first ventures 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 pieces.
All of these questionable mechanics masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an excellent tactical game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, design, and content in general," another commenter wrote. "I am convinced if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's scummy business model, gave people few incentives to return. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that playing field is also a intimidating visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Gem
Man, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a uncommon case of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a concept so absurd, it was verging on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a full belt 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 raising the best possible version of the notorious fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter contests to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to wait before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that Select Button appreciated and got the fan culture around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's merciless random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things I 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 variations for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but one can dream.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially complex or profound game, but the kernels of genius were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes that forever alter 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 arrives.
With numerous core games and derivative titles, chances are that I omitted that one Pokémon game you totally love but argue that not nearly enough people played. I know that some people look back on games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
