{"id":136292,"date":"2026-03-02T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-197626"},"modified":"2026-03-02T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:00:00","slug":"feature-the-single-best-game-concept-ever-pokemon-inspired-devs-talk-the-series-that-started-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/03\/02\/feature-the-single-best-game-concept-ever-pokemon-inspired-devs-talk-the-series-that-started-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: “The Single Best Game Concept Ever” – Pok\u00e9mon-Inspired Devs Talk The Series That Started It All"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Pok\u00e9mon-likes<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An awful lot has happened for Pok\u00e9mon<\/strong> in the last 30 years. It’s spawned nine mainline generations spanning seven different consoles, countless spinoffs, a trading card game that’s more popular than ever, movies, TV shows, merch, a flipping theme park<\/em>… need I go on?<\/p>\n

It is the biggest entertainment franchise in the world with a global recognition that even the House of Mouse would envy. In short, 30 years on, I can’t imagine life without it.<\/p>\n

I’m sure that a bunch of you lovely lot would say that same, but I’d wager that the series hasn’t had quite as much sway over your life as it has for the developers behind the ever-growing sub-genre of Pok\u00e9mon-likes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Creature catching and battling, it seems, is such a solid format that it inspires a new wave of studios every year. We see Game Freak DNA cropping up in everything from battle-focused roguelikes to cosy farm sims, and what shines through in the very best of them is a genuine passion for the source material. A desire not to rip off what’s come before, but take what they love about it and work it into something new.<\/p>\n

With the series’ 30th birthday celebrations<\/a> in full swing, I decided to reach out to a handful of these studios to find out what Pok\u00e9mon means to them. Unsurprisingly, it means an awful lot.<\/p>\n

Humble Beginnings<\/h2>\n
\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Zion Grassl \/ Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I got an atomic purple Game Boy Color and Pok\u00e9mon Blue<\/a> for my sixth birthday, and that gift set me on a path that I\u2019m still walking along today,” said Sandy Spink<\/strong>, the lead dev of Supersoft’s creature-catching adventure Moonstone Island<\/a>. “I remember feeling like Pok\u00e9mon was made for me<\/em>, and since I was a child in the 90s, it sort of was.”<\/p>\n

I heard stories of these childhood inciting incidents \u2014 a “canon event”, as Cassette Beasts<\/a>‘ Jay Baylis<\/strong> describes it \u2014 time and again. Alex Pratt<\/strong>, Crema Games’ Marketing Director on Temtem<\/a>, describes picking his first starter (Bulbasaur) as “a split-second choice that would quietly shape years of my life,” while Baylis recalls the anime’s creature-catching focus as a feature “laser-targeted to fry my six-year-old brain with brand appeal.”<\/p>\n

It was Jochem Pouwels<\/strong>, who worked with TRAGsoft on Coromon<\/a>, however, that took the biscuit, as he recalled his earliest memory of the series: playing through Pok\u00e9mon Red in the wrong language<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“I had absolutely no idea what the NPCs were saying,” he says, “but even then, the gameplay was engaging, so I just brute-forced my way through the game by trial and error.”<\/p>\n

And there’s the keyword I was looking for from these devs: ‘gameplay’. We all know the mechanics of a mainline Pok\u00e9mon like the back of our hand at this point \u2014 even Legends: Z-A<\/a>‘s real-time battle shakeup wasn’t enough to wholly push the series’ tried-and-tested formula off its axis \u2014 but what do they feel like in the hands of a game developer? Why are they so gosh darn appealing?<\/p>\n

The Power That’s Inside<\/h2>\n
\"Cassette<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Raw Fury<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Regardless of which studio I spoke to, two main features kept popping up: the creatures and the micro-rewards. I’ll begin with that first camp because, frankly, the ‘mon themselves have always been the reason that I’ve kept coming back to the series for more.<\/p>\n

“I honestly think the loop of collecting monsters as pets to battle with, which lets you progress and discover more monsters, is the single best game concept ever,” Baylis says, “People want to see cool creatures, and decide which ones match their own personalities. They want to compare and contrast those choices with their friends. It’s brilliant.”<\/p>\n

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there are parallels to be drawn with the modern gacha experiences<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s not just the playground chatter of ‘who-found-what’, either. LEAP Game Studios, the team behind monster-training roguelike Dicefolk<\/a>, points out how well the games constantly tease you with new Pok\u00e9mon via the battle system.<\/p>\n

“The fact that Pok\u00e9mon can be both allies and opponents is key,” studio co-founder Luis Wong<\/strong> tells me, “It creates a natural incentive to explore and experiment during battles. Every encounter becomes an opportunity to fall in love with a new Pok\u00e9mon.”<\/p>\n

Cute creatures aside, it was the recurring mentions of the game’s subtle rewards system that interested me the most because it’s something that I have never really considered. Unsurprisingly, a game developer’s eye will pick up on things that a more casual player might not.<\/p>\n

These rewards come in several different shapes and sizes. Most obvious is the team level and XP, each providing its own little dopamine hit with every battle and wild encounter. “Pok\u00e9mon employs the classic ‘number go up’ mechanic that makes most RPGs so satisfying,” Spink says, “You can feel your team getting stronger and see it visually as you evolve your Pok\u00e9mon from these shrimpy little cuties into these war-tank beasts.”<\/p>\n