Announced and revealed in the latest Pokémon Presents video, Pokémon Friends brings Professor Layton-style variety logic puzzles with cute creature themes to Switch and mobile. With a kid-friendly challenge level and limits on available puzzles, is this something puzzle fans can get excited about?
Pokémon Friends was made available immediately after the reveal: you can get a free version of the game on mobile stores, with further DLC purchases opening up more puzzle options, or you can buy the game on Switch for $9.99, effectively including the first "Basic" puzzle pack they're selling on mobile. The game consists of lots and lots of Pokémon-themed logic puzzles which grant you rewards in the form of yarn that you'll turn into random plush rewards, hoping to find your favorite 'mons.
I'm not the type of puzzle game player who completely disregards theme, art and everything else in the name of separating out pure logic and mechanics. I don't think games, or any art, really works that way. So I can picture a Pokémon-themed puzzle game, with many different cute puzzle setups strung together in a Layton-esque way, that I could enjoy, even if I'd expect that it might be a little easy and tame in terms of design and difficulty.
Unfortunately, after trying the free version of Pokémon Friends on mobile, I don't think this imaginary enjoyable version of the game is the one we got. You can buy more puzzle types and unlimited plays for around $10 (and you can spend more after that if you want even more variety) but the simplicity of all the basic puzzles I was able to play for free on my first day was so exaggerated that I get the sense this title is mostly aimed at Pokémon-loving children. (And maybe that's ok.)
If you do have a kid, and you think that Pokémon flavor might entice them to engage with some logic puzzles, then Pokémon Friends might not be the worst choice of daily activity. But with its reliance on gacha-style loot-box rewards, daily timers and DLC packs, and the low complexity level on display, I'm not sure there's much here for those outside of a very casual audience. Perhaps the challenge ramps up if you stick with it long enough, but I don't think I'm willing to pay enough to find out.
Pokémon Friends is available to start for free on mobile platforms and for purchase on Nintendo Switch.
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