Following a glimpse of world peace courtesy of Pokémon Go, it's undeniable that the creature-catching series stands as one of the most mainstream gaming titles in existence. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The persistent pandemonium around trading card values guarantees near-daily Pokémon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a few million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
Yet despite that ubiquity and fame, some Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These are games that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried under the excitement of the mainline series. These are Pokémon games stuck on ill-fated consoles or services, or were pioneering attempts onto new mediums. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have flourished if they ever got follow-ups or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more recommendation for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and typing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, agreed?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
Too many Pokémon games emphasize the battling element of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the everyday realities that would come with owning a pet. Sure, there are small features like these in modern games—players may pet, and feed 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 Wii isn't it. The digital-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokemon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from various titles. Reviews from its launch noted Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to argue against these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've come to a everyday life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game is set on a ranch where your Mii avatars—get this—simply hang out with your pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a significant part of the appeal 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 daily joys of coexisting with a small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. One might cry 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is just as much a puzzle game as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley kicked off the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the proliferation of passive games, and the Let's Play popularization of viewing games you aren't playing. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to observe your critters as much as you interact with them didn't mask a lack of substance. In truth, Ranch's meticulous design was so extraordinary, there's a live stream focused on broadcasting the game continuously. The streamer who runs the channel maintains that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he even now has not seen all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an official tabletop game with action figures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the tabletop experience in a more accessible format. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest forays into the world of free-to-play mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could spend for advantage—and there was incentive to do so, given the slow progression for new pieces.
All of these poor design choices obfuscated a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I adored and miss this game," a YouTube comment states, years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Honestly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of depth, approachability, game design, and features in general," another commenter declared. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was marred by connectivity problems. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people little reason to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive 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 board is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Experiment
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games relax a little and have some enjoyment? 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 internet meme. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth 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.
Within Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the ultimate version of the notorious fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, requires the player to pause 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 events, where your Magikarp was as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games would do, like offering a wide variety of the same type 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 complex or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will likely be in the running when 2026 GOTY season rolls around.
Given numerous mainline entries and derivative titles, chances are that I omitted that particular 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 notwithstanding argu
