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GamesRadar
GamesRadar
Technology
George Young

Pokemon life sim Pokopia shows off 4-player multiplayer oozing with Animal Crossing vibes, and new Pokemon forms including this mossy Snorlax I'm already in love with

Screenshot from Pokopia. A ditto is in the centre of the frame sat in a cave.

The Pokemon Company has released a 10-minute trailer for its upcoming Pokemon-based farming simulator Pokopia, featuring plenty of previously unrevealed details. The trailer starts by introducing us to Professor Tangrowth, who will serve to guide us around our new barren home.

Pokopia is about building different habitats on your island to attract different types of Pokemon. For example, we see Charmander burst out of the grass, Slowpoke swim by the docks, and Hitmonchan spar with a punching bag. As a specific example of how you'll attract Pokemon, the trailer shows that placing a chair and a fishing rod at the shoreline attracts Magikarp.

Each Pokemon you bring to the island will have a signature move, and this will allow you to further develop the land by chopping things down, watering plants, or breaking through the dirt.

You can also transform into certain Pokemon to travel to "distant islands", such as using Lapras to Surf or Dragonite to Fly. These could be randomized with NPCs, or they could be referring to other players' islands. Pokemon can also ask you for certain requests, giving you small side missions to complete on the island.

Like all good farming simulators, Pokopia has a crafting system so that you can build up your island into a town. The crafting system is also the key to creating new habitats to attract more Pokemon. Pokemon on your island can be tasked with helping out using their signature moves while you work on something else. Working together with other Pokemon will allow you to unlock larger crafting projects like buildings and town decorations.

(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

A number of other features are mentioned, such as character customization, camera mode, and most excitingly, four-player online co-op play, including Game Share with both Switch 1 and Switch 2.

The end of the trailer is very mysterious. We see a multicolored Smeargle, a ghostly Pikachu, and a giant Snorlax covered in moss. The official website describes them as Smearguru, Peakychu, and Mosslax, but little else is known.

Pokopia will be released on March 6, 2026, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2, and controversially, it won't be receiving a physical edition.

Pokemon's cute, cozy life sim spin-off may be hiding some deeply tragic lore as fans question the backstory of our Ditto protagonist: "What happened to their trainer?"

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