There's a reason your mom knows Pikachu. Over the past three decades, Pokemon has gone from being Satoshi Tajiri's childhood dream to the highest-grossing entertainment franchise in the world.
The pocket monsters' legacy includes a wildly popular anime, widely scalped trading cards, a movie starring Ryan Reynolds and many, many games. New entries in the series are dipping into the history of the franchise and dialing up the nostalgia. Pokemon Champions, which is slated to release in 2026, will combine all of the franchise's battling gimmicks under one unified competitive game.
A Pokemon game exists for nearly every gamer, whether you love exploring new worlds, bonding with cuddly creatures, crawling through dungeons, solving mysteries or battling with other players.
We've curated this list of the best Pokemon games you can play, including mainline games and spin-off titles from throughout the franchise's history.
Read more: Best Pokemon Day Deals: Enjoy Big Savings on Switch Games, TCG, Plushies and More
Best Pokemon games of all time
Nintendo 25. Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee The Kanto region makes a return on the Nintendo Switch's Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee. These extremely kid-friendly games make generation one Pokemon accessible to anyone, by cutting out most wild Pokemon battles and giving players a cute (and strong) partner Pokemon. The Let's Go games are a retread of the original Pokemon gym challenge, but they incorporate 3D graphics and Pokemon Go catching mechanics to revitalize and refresh a tired adventure. As with many of the Nintendo Switch Pokemon games, it's very easy to draft up a competitive team with Exp. Candies, bottle caps that max out IVs and more. Shiny Pokemon hunting is also easier, with a new method allowing players to chain Pokemon catches from the same species in order to boost the odds of running into one of the elusive chromatic oddities. Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee aren't the hardest Pokemon games, and they're not the best generation one titles either -- but Pokemon Go on a home console is a very appealing prospect all the same. Release Date: Nov. 16, 2018 Platform: Nintendo Switch Genre: Kanto offshoot incorporating Pokemon Go catch mechanics Developer: Game Freak $57 at Best Buy $50 at Target $50 at Walmart
Nintendo 24. Pokemon Unite While multiplayer online battle arenas have a bad reputation for building toxic communities, Pokemon Unite offers a family-friendly alternative to games like League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Smite. Players participate in 10-minute long, five-versus-five matches where they need to evolve their Pokemon, gain power and beat their opponents by depositing points in goals around the map. Pokemon Unite limits text chat by default, and incoming voice chat can be turned off in the settings. There's no visible scoreboard, which is intended to prevent angry teammates from rage-quitting before the end of the match. These quality-of-life features make it stress-free to solo queue and learn any of the 62 Pokemon featured within the game. Unite follows a free-to-play model and is a straightforward MOBA experience for new players -- making it a great way for interested parties to dip their toes into the genre. Release Date: July 21, 2021 Platform: Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS Genre: Simplified multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) Developer: TiMi Studio Group See at Nintendo
Nintendo 23. Pokemon TCG Pocket The latest true pocket monster craze makes Pokemon TCG more accessible to casual fans, which is an impressive feat. Cutting through the feature creep that has defined the physical card game, Pokemon TCG Pocket has launched several "back to basics" expansions that focus on simple mechanics like Pokemon Ex cards, Pokemon tools and trainer and supporter cards. Prebuilt decks and AI battles teach the fundamentals of battling, removing a lot of pressure from new players looking to dive right in. If you're just a casual collector, TCG Pocket still offers the thrill of ripping two free packs every day. Events dish out hourglasses that let players earn even more packs, and it's possible to accrue a respectable repertoire of Pokemon cards without spending a cent if you log in consistently. Pokemon TCG Pocket balances beautiful new art with base set classics, and it's always exciting to fill in the empty spaces in your binder when new cards are released. Release Date: Oct. 30, 2024 Platform: Android, iOS Genre: Trading card game with collecting and battling mechanics Developer: DeNA See at Apps.apple
Nintendo 22. Detective Pikachu Before Ryan Reynolds voiced everyone's favorite electric rat, Pikachu donned his trench coat and tweed hat to solve mysteries on the 3DS. This Creatures Inc. game will feel familiar to folks who enjoy a good visual novel mystery. In Detective Pikachu, players step into the role of Tim Goodman, whose father recently went missing after getting caught up in a sinister conspiracy. After finding his dad's talking Pikachu, Tim joins the Baker Detective Agency to solve the case. Detective Pikachu plays out like many other mystery procedurals, where players will scan scenes for clues, speak with nearby Pokemon and interrogate people to figure out what happened. There are multiple cases to solve that build up the overarching storyline. If you've seen the movie, you'll have an idea of what's going on here, but the plot is just different enough to catch you by surprise. At its core, Detective Pikachu understands what Pokemon is all about: the bond between human and monster as they work together toward a common goal. Release Date: March 23, 2018 Platform: Nintendo 3DS Genre: Mystery and adventure-filled visual novel Developer: Creatures Inc. See at Nintendo
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