Pokémon’s Daily Puzzle Is More Like ‘Neopets’ Than ‘Wordle’
From the New York Times to Apple , daily puzzles have taken over our smartphones. But as a kid, I spent my time playing handheld games while pursuing a different passion: Pokémon . Now, these cute pocket monsters are trying to find their place in a trend started by Wordle with Pokémon Friends , a new game that hit mobile devices and the Nintendo Switch today, just before its official announcement minutes later.
What’s the catch? Like NYT Games, it’s not exactly free, at least on the Nintendo Switch. On mobile, you can play a little bit for free, but it won’t take long to start shelling out for the full experience.
The gameplay may not be exactly what you expect. While Wordle ‘s ability to share the game helped make it a success, Pokémon Friends ‘ daily puzzles aren’t for everyone. (I tested two different accounts on two different devices, and while the puzzle types were the same, my daily puzzles were different.) For me, that’s a bit of a counter to the idea of daily puzzles, but honestly, these aren’t exactly the kind of puzzles that need a shared puzzle.
While Wordle encourages players to gossip or complain about what the trending word of the day might be, Friends’ puzzles are more like browser games. There are puzzles involving sliding tiles, ice skating, and building a railroad in the style of Pipe Dream . They’re cute, but at least in my experience, they won’t puzzle an adult for long, and certainly not to the point of making you want to discuss them online. While I understand that this probably makes them more accessible to a younger audience, I still think there’s potential for something more collaborative and mysterious that would better fit the “daily challenge” idea, especially given the anime’s Who’s That Pokémon? episodes.
Instead, this mini-game component of the puzzles makes me think less of Wordle and more of old-school Flash games like Neopets . This comparison also ties into another feature of the game: collecting plush toys.
Pokémon is all about “catch them all,” and Pokémon Friends is no exception. But instead of catching living creatures, you’ll be collecting Pokémon plushies. Every time you solve a puzzle, you’ll earn yarn, which you can then turn into a digital plush of the corresponding pocket monster and display in your digital room. It’s a pretty robust system, as you’ll be able to place your furry collectibles in a full 3D space and place furniture next to them. Again, much like you might have decorated your Neodom back in the day.
While this approach doesn’t quite meet my expectations, there’s something special about Pokémon Friends if you think of it not as a Wordle competitor but as a classic collection of small, relaxing browser puzzles. The game comes with over 1,200 puzzles preloaded by default, and even if they don’t update daily like other puzzle apps, it’ll take you a while to get through them all.
That is, at least if you play one set of about three puzzles that free users get per day. If you’re willing to shell out, you can also buy the “Basic Pack” for $10 to unlock unlimited puzzles per day (or just buy the Switch version, which costs $10 but unlocks unlimited puzzles by default). The Basic Pack also adds additional puzzle types, and if that’s not enough, there are also “Puzzle On” packs to expand further.
With all the extras that let you solve the puzzles on your own, Pokémon Friends feels more like a game released on cartridges during the DS’s life cycle, or a companion site for an actual plush toy during the toy-game craze. That may disappoint those who wanted a more collaborative, constantly updated experience like Wordle , but it’s likely to leave gamers with a certain nostalgia right at the core.