I was a regular Pokémon GO player years ago, and It seems to me one of the most interesting and important works of the industry in this century. The ability to take to the streets so many millions of people is incomparable, forging a unique style that few have been able to imitate. It has had to be its own creators, Niantic Labs, who have tried other franchises and similar games to find another similar phenomenon. But nothing has worked, and if not tell Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, which will close its doors for good. However, I also recognize that the game ends up overwhelming me with its large number of actions and every time I reinstall it on my mobile device and open it, I feel the same.
Niantic Labs is doing an incredible job with Pokémon GO to satisfy its legion of fans, incorporating more and more new features. If you are one of those players who downloaded the game in those first moments of a global phenomenon and you try it now, you will be amazed. Combats, mega-evolutions, raids everywhere, objects, mechanics, confrontations with Team Rocket … but it is a game that forces you to be constantly aware of your mobile phone. You can choose to take on a more passive style, of course, but you will know that you are missing a lot while walking. Because my first days with Pikmin Bloom have been so satisfying, as it is a new release from the studio for a similar style of play, but much more passive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFdpE3UHxzY
If you feel like it, you can enjoy Pikmin Bloom without picking up your phone at any time during your walk, starting your planting of flowers when you leave home and checking the fruits of your walk when you return. It’s that simple, but also offering possibilities for those players who prefer a somewhat more active experience. The best? That never forgets those principles, and it becomes a fabulous application that gamifies our necessary exercise. I have already left it permanently installed on my mobile device as a nice diary that complements my walks, and that I have understood better and better as the days go by.
But let’s go in parts, just in case you’ve never tried Pikmin Bloom, which is already available on mobile devices for free download. Like Pokémon GO, it is a game that requires going out for a walk. There are few activities that you can do with the game if you do not walk, so it is a great way to complement your walks or, more importantly, promote a much healthier life. It takes another famous Nintendo franchise for it, Pikmin, and the growth of these curious creatures that will join our adventure and help us get fruits and flower petals.
The general concept of Pikmin Bloom is not competitive, here you do not choose sides nor do we have to fight against other players, quite the opposite; the overall goal of all players is to fill the world with flowers. When we start our walk we have the possibility of starting the planting of the petals that we have achieved, of different colors and shapes, and when we start to move forward we will see how we leave a beautiful trail of these plants. Meanwhile, the Pikmin that we have collected will also accompany our avatar on his wanderings (pun intended).
Pikmin Bloom tries to provide more tools to make the journey fun, or so that we want to go out for a walk to play without more. Throughout the world, there are different plants that need the planting of flowers around them to flourish And, when they do, they will reward the players who are nearby with the birth of new fruits that will allow them to obtain more petals. That is, the general concept could not be simpler: you go out for a walk to plant flowers and thus be able to get more, without stopping, in a vicious circle. But the creatures are joining the party and it’s nice to get more and more.
During our walks we will also obtain seedlings that we can plant in our backpack, and that they need us to take a number of concrete steps for them to grow. From these seedlings our beloved Pikmin will be born, of different colors and shapes, and while we level up our character (completing simple objectives that, in general, are fulfilled by walking without more) we can have more and more Pikmin at our disposal. From the fruits we obtain nectar, and the nectar serves us to feed our beloved creatures, which are the ones that make the flowers grow on their heads from which we obtain the petals that we leave on our walks.
As you can see, everything is simple, but interesting, since the important thing is to walk. Stroll and pass (or not) in search of the great plants scattered around the world to help them flourish and, hopefully, obtain their fruits. Pikmin Bloom does not want to promote competitiveness or be active too much and, in fact, we will not be able to use the mythical trick of walking again and again down the same street until one of the large flowers blooms., since in order to continue planting petals along the path you have just traveled, you have to spend a reasonable amount of time.
And it is fantastic to do it, as well as to do it in company. We have the possibility of planting our petals in company, showing our avatar on the screen of the other players, which will allow us to walk with other players while we see their progress on the screen. This, of course, is limited and will only be activated if we select it, to prevent anyone from knowing where we are at all times. But it is fun to walk around and see our companion on the screen, planting his own flowers, and seeing how that little virtual world is blooming as we go.
The Pikmin can be sent on an expedition, so that they go to collect some fruit or object from the surroundings. As in the console games of this franchise, we will have to send at least a specific number of creatures if we want them to have enough strength to load it, although I have not yet seen any action or mechanic that requires the use of any color in concrete. I imagine that it will be implemented at higher levels than those that I have not yet accessed or that it will be incorporated in some future update, otherwise it would not make much sense to have creatures of different colors when they all serve the same purpose.
I still have more surprises to discover, sure, and I will continue to activate Pikmin Bloom every time I go out on the street to continue planting my flowers and increasing the number of Pikmin that can help me in my work. I am also curious to see how far it goes, what is implemented in the future and if, contrary to Harry Potter’s bad luck, this work manages to last longer. I think Niantic has learned its lesson with these mistakes and has assumed that it cannot compete directly with Pokémon GO, which is its own creation, but it can generate another game that involves walking, but with much more passive actions that do not involve the use constant of the mobile. In fact, you could play both games simultaneously without problem, paying constant attention to Pokémon and leaving Pikmin in the background, planting flowers by your way and collecting the fruits on expeditions from home.
Pikmin Bloom has become a very pleasant surprise. I admit that I installed it without much hope or with the laziness that awakens to re-enter the world of Pokémon GO. But no, I have found a very positive game, which once again encourages healthier lifestyles and does not require constant use. For those who want to enjoy their rides while progressing through a game but don’t want to be continually staring at their mobile device, Pikmin Bloom is fantastic news., to which you can add photographs taken during your walk to create a beautiful journal of walks that is linked to obtaining new creatures and the general objective of making the world more and more beautiful. Will we get it together?
