Following a vision of global harmony courtesy of 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 identifiable as Disney's mascot, perhaps even more. The continued excitement surrounding card prices guarantees almost daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be difficult to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a couple million copies. Remarkably, unofficial Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
Yet despite that ubiquity and popularity, some Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These represent games that failed to receive their proper due, or were overshadowed under the excitement of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games released on doomed platforms or services, or were pioneering attempts onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that might have blossomed if they ever got sequels or contemporary re-releases. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're digging deep.
Still, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with discerning palates, shall we?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Forerunner
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat element of the series, and far too few of them highlight the ordinary realities that would come with owning a companion. Admittedly, modern titles include small features like these in recent entries—players may play with your monsters in camps. But I am 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 downloadable-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokémon Home; that is, as a storage system to hold monsters from various titles. Reviews from its launch said Ranch was a bad if not outright hideous game. I'm not here to argue against these notions, 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 farm where your Mii avatars—imagine this—simply hang out with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were simple, and a lot of the appeal was watching what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. 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 small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its fullest 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 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 playing. Most people never understood that Ranch's concept to watch your critters as much as you interact with them didn't mask a shallow core. In actuality, Ranch's attention to detail was so remarkable, there's a Twitch stream dedicated to broadcasting the game 24/7. The streamer who operates the channel states that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he still has not encountered everything that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.
Pokemon Duel: The Tactical Board Game Gone
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an official tabletop game with action figures? Pokémon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more accessible form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's first forays into the world of freemium phone games. 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 figures.
All of these poor design choices masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an excellent tactical game with Duel anymore. "Words cannot describe how much I adored and miss this game," one 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," a user wrote. "I am convinced if it came out now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket combined."
Unfortunately, Duel's initial launch was plagued with connectivity problems. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy business model, gave people little reason to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unusual board structure made for a fantastic tactical experience for the few folks who played Duel, but that playing field is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd 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 approving a game with a premise so silly, it was verging on internet meme. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers go out with a full belt of useless 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 infamous fish. I'm not talking about a Magikarp that can win battles. These are 'karp raised to enter competitions to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many mobile games, requires the player to pause before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that Select Button loved and understood 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. Apart from 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. 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 we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially sophisticated or deep game, but the kernels of genius 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 rolls around.
Given dozens of mainline entries and derivative titles, chances are that I didn't mention that particular Pokémon game you totally love but argue that not nearly enough people played. It's acknowledged that some people look back on games like Pokemon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball with affection despite argu
