Gaming

Here's a video link if you want to see it in motion: https://youtu.be/4ZlwTtgbgVA?t=311

Here's hoping it's true.

There are many scenarios in this game when you might want to move between far-placed rooms. Your active items restore their charge on completing rooms. An arcade might be your source of cash that you then want to spend in a shop on the other end of the map. You want to get to the boss challenge room but the only blood donation machine is in a secret room rather far from here.

There's even a small group of the game's fans who delight in doing as much min-maxxing as possible, trying to squeeze out the last drop of every floor.

Surely, a game like this must have a set of solid quality of life features to not waste players' time.

...right?

Welllll, let's see:

• You can't manipulate your movement speed beyond what your item drop allow. Got a speed down pill early on and had not a single speed-increasing item? Enjoy walking like that for the next hour and hope that you won't end up scouring every deadend!

• While many (most?) puzzle rooms deactivate once you solve them, not every room has such decency. Thankfully, they aren't as frequent nowadays as they used to before Repentance but if even one of them generate in an important spot, get ready for pain.

• There's another type of "fuck-you" rooms: ones that punish you for pressing forward after entering them. Usually they have spikes in your way, although sometimes it's bonfires. Most punished are those with high speed and flight since developers often lampshade the problem by closing off the spikes with some rocks - which your character will fly over. Fuck rocks with spikes btw :)

• Arcade machines and beggars love to waste your time. Taking one resource at a time when you can have up to 99 of this resource, while forcing you to keep attention the entire time because they can always spawn a troll bomb right in your face - doesn't it sound beautiful? But that's not even the worst! SHELL GAMES. A 1 second animation for every coin you give it, a high chance to get an aggressive fly in your face, all for stupid rewards! You gotta love these guys.

• Sometimes you want to move a card or a trinket to another room. You pick it up, move to this room and hold down a button. And then wait. Like for at least 3 seconds. Now imagine doing that multiple times each run. It's soooo annoying...

Anyway that's my rumble for a game that ate hundred of hours of my life, inspired by a stream I just saw where someone managed to break the game with D7 and Jumper Cables.

Whatcha been playing! I've been continuing grinding p5. Soooo close to being done. Also picked up Slay the Spire 2! It's so awesome!

Game Information

Game Title: Pokémon Pokopia

Platforms:

• ~~Nintendo Switch (Mar 5, 2026)~~
• Nintendo Switch 2 (Mar 5, 2026)

Trailer:

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 88 average - 93% recommended - 30 reviews

Critic Reviews

CGMagazine - Chris De Hoog - 10 / 10

Despite how much I’ve played the main games in both Animal Crossing and Pokémon since the early/mid-2000s, I didn’t expect that both of Nintendo’s biggest time-sink franchises would meld together so well, and yet Pokémon Pokopia has just blasted off straight to the top of my list of favourite cozy games.

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COGconnected - James Paley - 86 / 100

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Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 4 / 5

Although there is a degree of repetition to be found in your actions from time to time, none of this dulls what is easily my favourite Pokemon spin-off in years.

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Dexerto - Zackerie Fairfax - 5 / 5

Pokemon Pokopia reimagines what it means to be a Pokemon, blending cozy building systems with open-ended creativity to deliver one of the most addictive gameplay loops the series has ever seen.

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Digitec Magazine - Domagoj Belancic - German - 5 / 5

Pokémon Pokopia reignited my fading love for the series. This cozy life sim shines with its unusual setting and mystery-filled world. Rebuilding abandoned ruins, attracting new Pokémon, and caring for them is deeply satisfying. Its surprisingly deep mechanics offer impressive freedom, whether I’m constructing homes, crafting items, or exploring alongside Pokémon companions. Packed with charm and attention to detail, it constantly evokes a sense of wonder and nostalgia. In short, Pokémon Pokopia is finally a truly great Pokémon game — and better than anything the mainline series has delivered in the past decade.

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Enternity.gr - Panagiotis Petropoulos - Greek - 9 / 10

As a life simulation game brimming with content, possibilities, and Pokémon, Pokémon Pokopia has what it takes to win over fans of the genre, regardless of whether they have ever been fans of this huge franchise.

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Eurogamer - Lottie Lynn - 4 / 5

Pokopia succeeds in capturing the spirit of Pokémon's past without sacrificing its uniqueness, as one of the best spin-offs the franchise has ever seen.

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Eurogamer.pt - Bruno Galvão - Portuguese - 5 / 5

Pokémon Pokopia is a charming and entertaining life simulation game in which you collaborate with various Pokémon to improve the desolate places you arrive at. Whether you're completing story objectives or simply rejuvenating locations, the hours fly by with immense sweetness and fun.

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Everyeye.it - Italian - 8.7 / 10

The choice to rely on "bricks" makes the gameplay and technical structure more manageable, while the artistic direction may not be to everyone's taste. However, if you love Pokémon and want to immerse yourself in a simple and satisfying experience, you'll discover that Pokopia is much more than a hybrid between Animal Crossing and Minecraft.

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GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 91%

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GAMINGbible - Kate Harrold - 10 / 10

This collaborative effort provides a welcomed change of pace for longtime fans of the franchise, whilst serving as an alternative for newcomers who don’t favour the series’ typical turn-based offering. The end result is charming, soothing, and oh so incredibly moreish. Pokémon Pokopia showcases the type of reinvention you want to see in a franchise’s 30th year.

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GamePro - Maximilian Franke - German - 80 / 100

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GameSpot - 9 / 10

Pokemon Pokopia gives you a massive amount to do and a story that propels you forward, while also letting you enjoy the simple pleasure of living among your Pokemon friends and building your perfect community. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface, and I can't wait to keep exploring. I'll get Squirtle back yet.

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GamesRadar+ - Sam Loveridge - 4.5 / 5

There's a surprising range to the ways the Pokemon can help you interact with the environment.

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Geeks & Com - Anthony Gravel - French - 8.5 / 10

Pokémon Pokopia reimagines the franchise as a cozy life-simulation on Nintendo Switch 2, where you play as a Ditto-turned-human tasked with restoring a barren world into a thriving Pokémon paradise. Its blend of exploration, habitat building, and character interactions creates a relaxed yet engaging gameplay loop that will appeal to fans of games like Animal Crossing. While the pace is intentionally slow and story elements take a back seat to creative freedom, the soothing presentation and charming systems make progression feel rewarding. Overall, Pokopia is a refreshing and imaginative spin-off that showcases a new direction for Pokémon’s sandbox experiences.

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Gfinity - Alister Kennedy - 10 / 10

Pokopia is a 2026 Game of the Year contender that masterfully blends the creative freedom of Minecraft with the cozy charm of Animal Crossing. By trading traditional battling for an addictive loop of habitat restoration and blueprint-based building, it offers a deeply rewarding new way to collect Pokémon.

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Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 9 / 10

Pokemon Pokopia is one of the series’ best spinoffs to date, wrapped in nostalgia and charm, this is a love letter to fans and something you’ll sink hundreds of hours into.

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Hobby Consolas - Spanish - 87 / 100

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IGN - Rebekah Valentine - 9 / 10

Pokémon Pokopia is an enjoyable, personality-packed building simulator set in a surprisingly deep world that is stuffed with fun things for its delightful Ditto protagonist to do and create.

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IGN Italy - Arturo Perrotta - Italian - 8.5 / 10

Pokémon Pokopia is an adventure that manages to surprise and leave its mark, bringing back that sense of wonder and discovery that has always made the series so special.

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LevelUp - Spanish - 9 / 10

Pokémon puede ser cualquier cosa. La franquicia tiene tanto carisma y apela a perfiles tan diferentes, que puede adaptarse a juegos de cartas, experiencias de estrategia, parques de diversiones y hasta rockolas en forma de consola de videojuegos.  A lo que quiero llegar es a que parece que el límite del potencial de Pokémon está […]

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Nintendo Blast - Renzo Raizer - Portuguese - 9 / 10

Pokémon Pokopia is an excellent spin-off for the franchise. I found the vision the developer brought to our beloved monsters very interesting; an approach that suited them perfectly. All the mechanics mentioned above are what make the game excellent. I hope that, in the future, the game continues to expand and has a long lifespan. In management titles like this, it's entirely possible to extend the project's lifespan, as we saw in the case of Animal Crossing, which received updates for a long time while remaining relevant. Pokémon Pokopia is a game that both new and old fans of the franchise will love, becoming addicted to this new world of creation, revitalization, and exploration.

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Nintendo Life - Alana Hagues - 8 / 10

Pokémon Pokopia is the freshest Pokémon experience in a long time, bursting at the seams with charm and content that rewards both curiosity and creativity. It's an easy game to get swallowed up in, even with a few gameplay and progression issues that need ironing out.But as a first go at something different for the franchise, it's a big win. I don't know how Pokémon has stayed away from this kind of structure for so long, and I'd easily take a dozen more.

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PPE.pl - Wojciech Gruszczyk - Polish - 9 / 10

Pokemon Pokopia is a surprisingly addictive spin-off that focuses on exploration, habitat building, and developing your own living Pokemon community instead of combat. The most fun comes from experimenting with ‘recipes’ for new environments, crafting, and terraforming, although over time the grind and the demands imposed by the tasks become more noticeable. If you're looking for a peaceful game in the style of Animal Crossing + Minecraft with a Pokémon skin, you've come to the right place – but you have to accept that it's a completely different experience than the classic instalments of the series.

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Spaziogames - Italian - 9 / 10

Pokémon Pokopia is a bold experiment that successfully blends multiple genres, resulting in a title with a very strong identity. While the main series has always been fueled by collecting and battling, here collecting remains, but combat gives way to management and reconstruction. There's no pressure. No performance anxiety. There's a world to rebuild patiently, one micro-habitat at a time.

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TheSixthAxis - Stefan L - 9 / 10

Pokémon Pokopia is almost exactly as cosy as we hoped. It's more active and goal-oriented than Animal Crossing, but there's still a laid-back, charming atmosphere to rebuilding the world and making it a new home for yourself and all the other Pokémon left behind.

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VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5

Pokémon Pokopia is an excellent life simulation game that takes the best bits from the champions of the genre and evolves into something that Pokémon fans, and cozy game fans will love. Late-game grinding doesn't dull an adventure that's as full of discovery at 100 hours as it was at 1

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Video Chums - Mary Billington - 9.1 / 10

Pokemon Pokopia delivers an adorably joyful experience that unfolds at your own pace and provides a canvas for unbridled creativity. Yay! 🌳

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[alt text: A screenshot from Final Fantasy Tactics, showing a scene where a monster is saying, "A government composed of monsters will never hold monsters accountable!"]

An on time game thread!? What timeline is it. What have you all been playing!

I've been playing and LOVING RE Requiem!!! The game is so, so good. I can't wait to keep playing it!

Dark Lord Simulator “Dominion of Darkness” is RPG/strategy where you are destroying/conquering fantasy world by intrigues, military power and dark magic.

And now it is the time for the big update, focusing primarily on the endgame. Players focused on direct conquest will have new ways to find new battlefields - portals to crazy, Lovecraftian worlds, discovering new lands, and a magical slumber to wait for the rebirth of old enemies/the emergence of new ones (and seeing how the world changes in their absence). For players more interested in the less brutal side of world domination, the options for managing the territories of our empire will be expanded. Will you allow orcs to overrun Dark Elf cities? Will schools focus on training engineers for the army and economy, or on brainwashing them into blind obedience? Furthermore, I’m expanding the Dark Lord’s interactions with other characters, including available romances. Of course, new content requires testing, and since, as usual, it’s highly non-linear and dependent on player decisions (plus random generation), I can’t test every combination myself.

Game, as always, is available free here: https://adeptus7.itch.io/dominion No need for dowload or registration.

And another news - one of the players made a fan song inspired by the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mPcsUonuyo

removed, I'm a bus!

I'll be down for this!

In the previous two articles about Ukrainian games, I talked about a total of 11 cool projects created by Ukrainian developers, which I highly recommend you check out. And since more than a year has passed since the last article about Ukrainian games, it's time to dive back into the world of the Ukrainian gaming industry and continue the topic of games created in Ukraine. This time there will be more of them, 10 in total, so be sure to read this article to the end.