Fan-made roguelike that reinvents Pokémon now has over a million players

The Pokémon franchise has long faced issues with its core gameplay loop. For me, Kalos was the last region to fully captivate me before I lost interest. I was still young then, and nothing of the critic I have to be today, but I remember thinking that this cyclical loop of Young Trainer to Elite Four champion was tiresome.

Of course, later games dabbled with inventive ways to reshape the formula, though the general pattern of journeying through a singular narrative has always stuck. I have, if I’m honest, fallen out of love with Pokémon for this reason. Maybe it’s a symptom of being older and having far less time to myself, but I can’t commit to the banalities of a mainline Pokémon game. So, when I heard that there’s a browser game that takes core Pokémon mechanics and shapeshifts it into a roguelike, my ears perked up.

PokéRogue, created by a single developer, shot up from merely 100,000 player to a million just this last month. Executed with a nostalgic design that rips sprites and UI directly from third-gen games, it’s absurdly warming to sink your hooks into.

As gamers, our time should be respected. As much love as I have for Pokémon, the mainline series doesn’t respect your time in the slightest. As far as Scarlet and Violet go, its world is only there to be gawped at, and because the formula demands it. Fangames, on the other hand, have the creative license to turn the formula entirely on its head. That’s what PokéRogue does. By eradicating the small town, gym battles, and Elite Four, the game focuses in on its core appeal–battling.

You will do nothing other than battle after battle in PokéRogue, and careful tuning and gameplay restructuring makes this infinitely fun. The frustration of running to a Pokémon Center to heal your party is replaced by items you pick up after each battle, and you are locked in a loop that teases your frustration, while leaving you gagging for more.

This isn’t something that the O.G. franchise is unaware of. Back in Emerald, we had the Pokémon Frontier. This was the best part of the game for many reasons, though difficult challenges and the potential for replay made it shine bright. Other iterations of this have appeared in the series, though none have been as committed and fleshed out as PokéRogue.

You will begin with a random Pokémon selected from the pool of mainline starters – including those from generations far beyond the Generation Three aesthetic. PokéRogue wastes no time teaching youthe simple mechanics of the game; catch, train, and battle. Nor does it waste time amping up the difficulty.

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Whereas some rom-hacks take the Pokémon formula and give it a fresh lick of paint, PokéRogue rips it up, putting it in an entirely equation altogether. That said, there have been plenty of other Pokémon roguelikes in the past, though none have worked out as well as this one. The reason I think PokéRogue is enjoying this level of success–much like Pokémon Showdown– is due to its simple design.

Browser based Pokémon games will always have a soft spot in my heart. Not because it makes it easier to play them at work, but because they often cut through the grease and bloat that often comes with AAA-games. Pokémon works because of it’s battle mechanics. They’re simple, memorable, and fun. This fresh roguelike spin on the concept breathes some much needed life into the franchise, and the fact that it’s unlicensed and fan-made should be a wake-up call for The Pokémon Company.