Pokémon Pokopia devs prove the Switch 2 game can take over the world

The life sim has been compared to series like Animal Crossing, with the functionality of more complex games like Minecraft

What do you get when you combine the crunchiest bits from a mainstream game like Minecraft, the social virility of a series like Animal Crossing, and the cultural heft of a franchise like Pokémon? A video game poised to take over the world, at least on paper. Sure, Pokémon Pokopia has been reviewed extremely well prior to release, with a Metacritic score that technically deems it the highest-rated Pokémon game of all time. It's one thing to read about what makes Pokopia so good, though, another to see it in action. Few are equipped to highlight that gap like the developers of Pokémon Pokopia, who recently uploaded footage of the bases they built in the life sim.

The video features four developers from the multiple entities that made Pokopia possible: Kanako Murata from The Pokémon Company, Takuto Edagawa from Koei Tecmo, Shigeru Ohmori from Game Freak, and Marina Ayano from Koei Tecmo. The first section begins humbly enough, with a tour from Ayano through her Pokémon gym-themed area. Here we get a quick glimpse of some of the social mechanics, like emotes and special animations that happen when players run around with one another.

The next base, from Edagawa, is where Pokopia's possibilities start to shine. The Koei Tecmo developer put together a space full of switches, triggers, and interactive bits. When he opens the door to the bathroom, the light turns on and the sink starts running. The scene then pulls out to show how the area has been rigged with electric wires that power the appliances inside. Next, Edagawa takes viewers into a secret area full of effects that trigger only when the player walks through it. There's a cascading waterfall that gradually takes over a section, and neon lights that form a bright pathway. This portion connects to an underground section with a mine cart that turns into a musical ride, much like the ones Minecraft players like to make.

"I'm hoping people will come up with things I never even imagined," Edagawa says after revealing that he spent the end of 2025 building the mechanical marvel.

Later on, the developers display a puzzle base. There is a door that opens after the player steps on a switch, but it closes well before anyone can go through it. The solution is a simple one, but it works well as a proof of concept for what players might do with enough time and determination.

Given the elaborate islands players have been able to build in games like Animal Crossing, I can only imagine what folks might come up with when they have versatile tools and Pokémon's immense brand power. I can see it now. Magikarp shrines. Pikachu torture chambers. Weirdly explicit Dugtrio dungeons? One thing is for sure, the Pokémon Pokopia community is about to have a great time.