In the wake of a taste of global harmony thanks to Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting franchise stands as one of the most mainstream gaming titles in existence. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The continued pandemonium surrounding card prices guarantees almost daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a pocket monster game that failed to move at least a couple million copies. Even, unofficial Pokémon games go viral annually.
However despite that pervasiveness and popularity, some Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These represent titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were overshadowed by the hype of the core series. These are Pokémon games stuck on ill-fated consoles or online offerings, or were pioneering attempts onto new mediums. They're often also Pokémon games that might have flourished if they had received sequels or modern remakes. Considering these factors, this list will not be just one more recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and writing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for those possessing refined tastes, shall we?
Pokemon Ranch: The Chill Forerunner
Too many Pokémon games emphasize the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them highlight 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. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the vein of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a storage system to store monsters from different games. Critical reception from its release noted Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. It's not my goal to dispute these claims, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've ever gotten to a slice-of-life Pokémon game.
As the name suggests, the game takes place on a farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—simply hang out with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a beautiful 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 realized to its fullest potential. One might cry 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is just as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.
Ranch came out long before Stardew Valley sparked the lasting craze of comfort gaming. It was before the proliferation of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of watching games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never realized that Ranch's proposal to observe your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's meticulous design was so remarkable, there's a live stream focused on broadcasting the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel states that, after almost twenty years of experiencing the game, he still has not seen all that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: nobody understood you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Board Game Gone
Are you aware that Pokemon once had an official board game with miniatures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 effort to adapt the physical experience in a more accessible format. Duel was also, unfortunately, 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 incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new figures.
All of these questionable mechanics masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb tactical game with Duel today. "Words cannot describe how much I loved and miss this game," a YouTube comment states, years after Duel's servers were shut down. "Honestly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, design, and content in general," another commenter wrote. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's initial launch was plagued with connectivity problems. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory monetization model, gave people little reason to come back. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company decided to revive this franchise, it's unclear things would play out differently. The unusual game board made for a fantastic tactical experience for the few folks who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting eyesore.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Gem
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 premise so silly, it was bordering on internet meme. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a team of useless monsters who literally can't do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with raising the ultimate version of the infamous fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can flop the highest. I'm not a fan 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 fan culture around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's merciless random events, 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 one might 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 dozens of variations for a compendium of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially sophisticated or deep game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with unpredictable results that forever alter how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will likely be in the running when 2026 GOTY season arrives.
Given dozens of mainline entries 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 despite argu
