The Pokemon Company | Nintendo
Pokemon is the best-selling media franchise in human history. That’s not a matter of opinion: the adorable monster-collecting RPG series has enjoyed unbelievable success across numerous mediums. Its merchandise, spin-off games, and even its live-action movie have all made billions of dollars over the past 25 years.
In 2016, Pokemon broke into the lucrative mobile gaming world with the beloved Pokemon Go. That phone-based game encouraged players to get out into the real world and hunt down powerful monsters that “lived” in their neighborhoods and cities. Now, Pokemon is pushing players the other way with the innovative Pokemon Sleep app.
Pokemon Sleep was announced almost four years ago, but it’s only just now becoming a reality. The game will feature the iconic sleeping Pokemon, Snorlax, as its mascot and will help players get excited about a full night’s sleep. Together with a new Pokemon professor named Neroli, the player will try to identify the sleep patterns of various creatures.
The game asks players to put their phone nearby while sleeping and set the app into “recording” mode. It will then determine whether the player is dozing, snoozing, or slumbering. Pokemon who match this “sleep style” will appear around Snorlax, giving players something to look forward to when they awaken.
As players continue to use the app and track their sleep, they’ll unlock new “sleep styles” for their various Pokemon. Some creatures sleep with one eye open, like the mischievous Totodile. Others, like the silly Slowpoke, like to engage in “goofy sleep.” The various Pokemon that will gather while players sleep should give fans plenty to look forward to upon waking up.
The game is the latest in a recent series of Pokemon titles for smartphones. Developer Press Select also created the sleeper hit Magikarp Jump, a simple mobile title that tasks players with training their Magikarp to jump to ridiculous heights.
The Pokemon Company also recently announced a new product for use with the Pokemon Go and Pokemon Sleep apps called the Pokemon Go Plus+. Note that’s “Plus+,” spoken aloud as “Plus Plus,” not to be confused with the original Pokemon Go Plus. The new redundantly-named device has plenty of helpful features that will make it useful for Pokemon Go players, such as allowing them to collect items while walking without pulling out their phones. It’ll also allow players to catch Pokemon just by walking by them and pressing the button on the device!
