In the wake of a taste of global harmony thanks to Pokemon Go, it's undeniable that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most popular gaming titles around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as famous as Mickey Mouse, perhaps even more. The persistent excitement around card prices ensures near-daily Pokémon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a couple million units. Even, fan-made Pokémon games go viral every year.
However despite that pervasiveness and fame, there are still Pokémon games that remain overlooked. These represent titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried by the excitement of the mainline series. These are Pokémon games stuck on doomed consoles or online offerings, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that might have flourished if they had received sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another recommendation for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and typing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, agreed?
Pokemon Ranch: The Cozy Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the combat aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the ordinary realities that would come with owning a companion. Admittedly, modern titles include small features like these in modern games—you can play with your monsters in camps. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokemon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to hold monsters from different games. Reviews from its launch said Ranch was a poor if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to dispute these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the closest we've come to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, and a significant part of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when not forced into battle. Ideally, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of living your life with a tiny companion. But since The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its complete potential. I'd say 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzle game as it is a life sim.
Ranch came out long before Stardew Valley kicked off the lasting craze of cozy games. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't playing. Most people never realized that Ranch's concept to watch your creatures as much as you play with them didn't mask a lack of substance. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, a Twitch stream focused on broadcasting the game 24/7. The streamer who operates the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of playing the game, he still has not encountered all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Gone
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an official board game with action figures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the physical experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of freemium phone games. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha game where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new figures.
All of these poor design choices obfuscated a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Honestly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, game design, and features in general," a user wrote. "I am convinced if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."
Regrettably, Duel's early release was marred by connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people few incentives to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unique board structure made for a fantastic strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Gem
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a concept so absurd, it was bordering on internet meme. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of ineffective monsters who simply cannot do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the best possible version of the notorious fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can jump the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that the developers appreciated and got the community love around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's merciless random occurrences, where your Magikarp was as likely to raise its stats as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Apart from the great writing, Magikarp Jump also tried out other things one might wish the core series would do, like offering a diverse range of the same species of monster. I know 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 deep 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 running when 2026 GOTY season arrives.
With numerous core games and spin-offs, chances are that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you totally love but contend that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball with affection despite argu
