New iOS game Pokémon Quest adds a dash of Minecraft

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Pokémon Company
The next big iOS hit?
Photo: The Pokémon Company

Move over, Pokémon Go; there’s a new Pokémon game in town!

Newly launched on Nintendo Switch and coming to iOS in late June, Pokémon Quest is a free-to-play title which looks like a mashup of Pokémon and Minecraft. And if it can rake in the kind of combined income of those two properties, its creators will be very, very happy indeed!

The new title was announced by the Pokémon Company during a press conference in Japan. As detailed by games website Polygon, the title takes place on a world called Tumblecube Island. It involves players building up customized base camps, with Minecraft-style building, to attract new Pokémon.

These Pokémon can then battle other teams of Pokémon, although traditionalists shouldn’t expect the traditional turn-based combat of previous RPGs in the series:

“Instead, Pokémon Quest limits players’ control of their Pokémon to tapping attack meters once they’re full. Otherwise, the Pokémon go at it on their own.”

Taking away full control from trainers sounds like it could rub some players the wrong way, although the Pokémon franchise has long experimented with different gameplay mechanics — and been right a whole lot more than it’s been wrong.

The next big iOS smash hit?

Even though its lustre has somewhat faded now, Pokémon Go was a ridiculously big hit on mobile a couple of years back. In 2016, it raked in almost $1 billion, despite being available for only half of the year.

Without the AR novelty, I can’t imagine Pokémon Quest replicating quite that level of success. Still, by adding a dose of Minecraft to the mix, it’s certainly easy to imagine this appealing to its target demographic.

Unfortunately, yes, it’s also packed full of in-app purchases, which reportedly range from $4.99 to $17.99 in price!

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