In the wake of a glimpse of world peace thanks to Pokemon Go, there's no question that the creature-catching franchise is about as mainstream gaming titles in existence. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The ongoing excitement around card prices ensures near-daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games go viral annually.
Yet in spite of that ubiquity and fame, some Pokémon games that remain underappreciated. These represent titles that failed to receive their proper due, or were buried under the hype of the mainline series. These are Pokémon games released on ill-fated consoles or services, or were pioneering attempts onto different formats. Frequently, they are Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they had received follow-ups or contemporary re-releases. With these criteria in mind, this list will not be 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. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and typing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Relaxed Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the everyday aspects that would come with owning a pet. Sure, modern titles include minor mechanics like these in recent entries—you can play with your monsters in bases. But I am 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 antecedent to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from different games. Reviews from its launch noted Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to dispute these notions, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've ever gotten to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game is set on a ranch where your Mii avatars—imagine this—just relax with your pals. The interactions with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the draw was watching what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into battle. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the beginning of a beautiful franchise built on the simple pleasures of living your life with a tiny companion. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its fullest potential. One might cry 'help 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 enduring trend of comfort gaming. It was before the proliferation of passive games, and the video playthrough normalization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Many never understood that Ranch's proposal to watch your creatures as much as you play with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's attention to detail was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream dedicated to running the game 24/7. The individual who runs the channel states that, after nearly two decades of playing 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.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Lost
Did you know that Pokemon once had an licensed tabletop game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the tabletop experience in a more approachable form. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of freemium mobile gaming. 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.
These poor design choices obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel anymore. "Words cannot describe how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Truly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of depth, approachability, 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 together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's scummy business model, gave people little reason to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a fantastic tactical experience for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Whimsical Experiment
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some enjoyment? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company giving its blessing a game with a concept so silly, it was bordering on shitpost. Considering we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt 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 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. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to wait before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that Select Button 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 eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the great writing, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the core series would do, like offering a wide variety of the same species of monster. It's understood it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have 30 different colorings and patterns for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially sophisticated or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when 2026 GOTY season arrives.
Given 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 Pokémon Pinball fondly notwithstanding argu
