Developed By: Game Freak
Published By: Nintendo
Category: Life-Sim
Release Date: 03.05.26
Price: $69.99
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Pokémon, but I occasionally skip some of the spinoff titles. Pokopia was originally supposed to be that kind of game for me. It looked interesting, but I wasn’t really in the mood for another Animal Crossing kind of game, especially one that cost $70. I wasn’t going to review or play it, but the reviews and hype after launch got me to reconsider.
It ended up being the first game in a while that I just couldn’t put down. You play as a Ditto who wakes up in a barren wasteland after humans and Pokémon mysteriously disappeared. Using your ability to transform and use other Pokémon’s moves, you’re tasked with restoring the area. The tutorial is quick, but once you’re done, you’ll have learned a lot and a huge world will open up for you to explore.
Some of the things you can do at the start include watering and planting, breaking blocks, and placing items. Do this in a certain pattern and it will create a habitat. These habitats are where new Pokémon will appear and where they will live. The first group of Pokémon to appear are the tutorial ones like the Kanto starters, Timburr, and Scyther but the game eventually opens up to 300 Pokémon.
Each Pokémon has a different specialty which will help you out in different areas. You can feed berries to the Pokémon, do quests for them, and place items in their habitat to increase their mood and friendship. Doing this increases your environmental level. This unlocks new quests and items for you to buy in the shop. After an hour or two, the true scope of the game begins to shine.
Pokopia is a clever mix between Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and Minecraft. It’s like Minecraft because virtually every block and item can be broken and replaced. This allows you to recreate the world any way you like. It’s like Animal Crossing because you can interact with all the Pokémon and basically dictate where and how they live. You can also find, build, and buy all sorts of furniture to customize your house.
During the first few hours, I paid very little attention to the actual story and main questlines. Once I cleared the tutorial area, all I did was explore. I went to every area I could reach to find new items and notes left behind by humans. I spent way too much time clearing out areas, making new areas, gathering, farming, and working on my house. Occasionally I would do quests for the residents and PC.
I took my time and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Animal Crossing New Horizons is one of my favorite games of all time, but the islands are rather restricted. But here, the first biome is huge, and the entire world is massive. The obvious similarities to games like Minecraft and Dragon Quest Builders are there too. Pokopia gives you the best of both worlds wrapped in a layer of Pokémon.
But wait, there’s so much more. You can visit dream worlds and play with your friends online. You can relocate habitats, structures, and houses. You can even set up camera to keep an eye out for rare Pokémon. Do all this while trying to piece together why the world looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Even in that setting, it’s a very chill game.
But in true Pokémon fashion, completionists can take things to the next level. There are 300 Pokémon to befriend and 200 habitats to discover. Fully completing both dexes is going to take you a long time. But thankfully, you’ll be having a lot of fun in the process.
The game also runs incredibly well both in handheld mode and when docked. My only complaint is that Ditto sometimes doesn’t move the way I want it to. But even with that said, the game looks and sounds phenomenal. The 3D Pokémon models are some of the best I’ve ever seen and there are some classic Pokémon songs too. $70 is a steep price, but there’s so much value and then some.
Pokopia is not a great Pokémon game. It’s a great Animal Crossing game and a great Minecraft game that’s disguised as a Pokémon game. That’s what makes it so special. There are so many reasons to play Pokopia, and the only excuse not to is the Switch 2 exclusivity. But that’s honestly a poor excuse. Pokopia could very well be one of the biggest games of 2026.
10/10
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