As somebody who plays a lot of games, I have certainly found genres that click with me, and those that really do not. The same is true with any sort of art, whether that be music, films, or books, but with games, it feels different. With the time and energy that a lot of games, especially those more hardcore, demand, you will definitely find yourself drifting to games more within your comfort zone. Games can take a week to play to completion, so we really have to pick and choose what we spend our time and money on to avoid feeling cheated. Cosy games are a genre that I have never really drifted towards, mainly because I yearn for a demanding experience from the game itself rather than taking things at a steady pace. As much as I play games to relax, like any form of entertainment, they have to constantly engage me. The likes of Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and even House Flipper have yielded enjoyment out of me, but they have never had enough staying power to keep me constantly engaged. They are games for pure relaxation, and that concept has never particularly tempted me. When Pokopia, the latest genre titan, was announced, I wrote it off as just another cosy game that I would get very bored with very quickly. After all, my interest in Pokémon has always been passive, enjoying the odd game or so, but never fully becoming devoted to the franchise like so many are. However, having sunk about 20 hours or so into this game, buying it purely because I knew my girlfriend would enjoy it, it has put a spell on me that I did not see coming.

Pokopia is set within the Pokémon universe, but in a strangely dark circumstance that I doubt anybody saw coming. Humanity has vanished, leaving a rather desolate and post-apocalyptic world that is barren and slowly becoming devoid of life. You play as a Ditto, a Pokémon that can shapeshift to replicate others, but in a unique and fairly sombre twist, this Ditto is not shapeshifting into a Pokémon. Instead, this Ditto, with a personal touch from you via the character creator, has shapeshifted into its former human trainer, or at least as close to what it can remember said human looks like. This is a peculiar concept, but it sets the precedent for the fact that this game is not afraid to get weird and wonderful. As Ditto, you will meet many different Pokémon and create habitats for them so they can exist in this barren landscape, whilst simultaneously trying to revive the world around you and bring new life. Some of the Pokémon you meet will teach new skills to help achieve this goal. Squirtle, for example, gives you the ‘water gun’ move to let you water the soil and make the world a bit more humid. These skills will give you all you need to transform the world and create a Pokopia of your own personal style, make homes for Pokémon, attract new Pokémon, and also investigate the mysteries of the world left behind by the humans.

The main attraction point of Pokopia is just how much there is to do, and that separates it from other cosy games. Animal Crossing is mainly just about upkeeping the community around you, and that is basically all there is to it. Stardew Valley is mainly about farming, but it at least has some life-sim elements and dungeon crawling to spice things up a bit; those extra elements arguably do not feel equally weighted. Here, that marriage of different ideas, and the perfect weighting of which, is Pokopia’s greatest strength. It has a wonderful pace to it that is easily malleable depending on who you are as a player. With the different things to do, whether that be excavating the landscape, building new houses, finding new Pokémon, et cetera, there will always be something for you to do, so you will never be bored with the monotony of one specific aspect. When getting Pokémon to build a house, there is a real-life timer for when these buildings are complete, many of which are usually slated to be complete the following day. In something like Animal Crossing, or any mobile game ever, there does not lie much beyond this wait due to that being the main aspect of the game. Here, it works impeccably because it forces you to explore other aspects of what you can do, which is never a chore. Exploring areas, stacking your Pokédex with rare Pokémon via the habitats, or even completing quests, there is always plenty for you to sink your teeth into. It never feels overwhelming either, in a classic cosy game fashion. These games are deemed ‘cosy’ primarily due to their relaxation aspect, and you can take the game as laid back or seriously as you want to. If you want to spend every waking hour playing this, go ahead; there is probably enough for you to do so. But if you want to just dip in after a tough shift for half an hour, that also works. This versatility and the fulfillment you get from either scenario is what makes this game so easily digestible for everyone, and it is no surprise it has become a hit.

Pokopia‘s presentation massively helps it, and even as someone with no real affinity for Pokémon, it really enticed me to give it a go. Whilst this is very much set within the Pokémon universe, it is never oppressively so, in a way that even non-Pokémon fans can get something out of this. It never relies on any prior knowledge you may have of the games, making it easily accessible and pretty much a game for anyone. It’s a reset of the general status quo when it comes to a Pokémon experience, which obviously works in its favour very well, making it a unique franchise entry for fans but also a good jumping-in point for those that come to the series clueless about what is going on. With around 300 Pokémon in the game, there will be plenty that newcomers, or passive franchise players like myself, do not recognise, but every single one is introduced in a satisfying way that will make you a Pokémon master in no time. Every single time you befriend one, a screen comes up, profiling them and giving a nice bit of context about them, which is very welcome for those who do not know what is going on. The pace at which you get these Pokémon can be thick and fast, but the more popular ones are spaced out, giving you well-paced intervals of you fawning over your favourites and befriending them as much as you can. All their designs look brilliant as well, all very distinct and cool in their own way. The actual look of everything is also great, adopting a Minecraft-like block style but with a beautifully rendered coat of paint. The green-rolling hills, the rocky, lava-filled caves; it all looks excellent, but the real gratification is how you make these environments look better. Seeing the opening area turn from a dead wasteland into a valley teeming with life is so satisfying, both from a gameplay achievement perspective and also from a position of visual feedback, seeing the world around you looking a hell of a lot more pleasant thanks to your own influence.

As much as I was not sure about this game when it was first revealed, Pokopia has proven that it is not just another cosy game cash-in, uplifting the genre with its own unique spin. When a game like this comes out, it is always such a lovely experience to scroll on social media to see all the magnificent creations that everybody has built, even if they do dwarf your own work by some margin. The loop of this game is just so smooth and so addicting that I doubt this will just be a blip of popularity either. This is the kind of game that has a lot of staying power, especially when it comes to possible updates in the future. Even in the first full week of its release, it already has an event that has new things to get, as if we needed anything else this soon. But that is a good precedent to set, showing a lot of care to take this game forward and give it good service in its future. I am feeling very positive about this game so far, and it will be interesting to see how it transforms during its lifespan. For now, though, this is a great game that deserves your attention, and may scratch that cosy game itch that you have, as it did for me.