In the wake of a vision of global harmony thanks to Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the creature-catching franchise stands as one of the most mainstream video games around. The iconic Pikachu is every bit as identifiable as Disney's mascot, if not more so. The ongoing frenzy around card prices guarantees near-daily Pokémon news stories. It would be difficult to find a Pokémon game that didn't sell at least a few million units. Remarkably, fan-made Pokémon games go viral annually.
However despite that ubiquity and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that remain overlooked. These are titles that failed to receive their proper due, or were buried under the hype of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they ever got sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more reminder for Pokémon Conquest or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. We're digging deep.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. Therefore, prior to rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games emphasize the combat element of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight the everyday realities that would come with owning a pet. Sure, there are minor mechanics like these in modern games—you can play with your monsters in camps. But I am dying for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii isn't it. The downloadable-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 bad if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to dispute 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 ranch where your personal Miis—imagine this—simply hang out with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the appeal was observing 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 wonderful franchise built on the simple pleasures of living your life with a small creature. However, because The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will not get a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its complete potential. I'd say 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is just as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch was released well before Stardew Valley kicked off the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was prior to the rise of passive games, and the video playthrough popularization of watching games you aren't playing. Many never understood that Ranch's concept to observe your critters 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 continuously. The individual who runs the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he even now has not seen all that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Gone
Did you know that Pokemon once had an official board game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 effort to digitize the tabletop experience in a more accessible format. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of freemium phone games. Duel had the hallmarks of a gacha game where players could pay to win—and there was incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new pieces.
All of these questionable mechanics masked a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an excellent strategy game with Duel anymore. "I can’t express 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 superior to TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, approachability, design, and features in general," another commenter wrote. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was marred by server issues. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory business 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 unusual board structure made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Experiment
Man, 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 shitpost. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt of ineffective monsters who literally can't do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding the ultimate version of the infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter competitions to see who can jump the highest. I'm not a fan is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to pause before they can improve their Magikarp further. But it is evident throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the community love around Magikarp.
This was most apparent than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things I wish the core series would do, like offering a wide variety 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 roster 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 outrageous outcomes that forever alter how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the running when 2026 GOTY season arrives.
With numerous mainline entries and spin-offs, it's probable that I omitted that particular Pokémon game you absolutely adore but argue that too few people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball fondly despite argu
