After launching in Australia and Singapore earlier this week, Pikmin Bloom is now available to download in the US, Canada, and the rest of the Americas.
Pikmin Bloom is the latest augmented reality game from Pokémon Go developers Niantic. We’ve known that there was going to be an AR Pikmin game since March, but the game was only formally revealed on October 26.
Niantic said after the announcement that the game would be rolling out in more territories over the coming days, but didn’t specify when and where. Pokémon Go was also originally released over multiple days in order to make sure their servers weren’t overloaded. It’s likely the same thing is happening with Pikmin Bloom, so we imagine the game will be out in all major territories soon enough.
The game is similar to Niantic’s other AR games. The main purpose of the game is to go out on walks to grow Pikmin in your backpack, and as you add more and more of the plant-like creatures to your crew, flowers will start digitally growing on the map you walk along.
The game is intended to be more of a laid-back, relaxing experience compared to Pokémon Go. Pikmin traditionally is more of a real-time strategy and puzzle game, so while Pikmin Bloom marks a departure for the series, it still won’t be anything like the more combat-focused Pokémon series.
From early gameplay videos, it seems that the main way Pikmin Bloom will be monetized is through purchasing in-game currency, and storage for your Pikmin and other items. Hopefully, there isn’t a need to spend money in the game to make any actual progression, as it would feel off if a game that is supposedly beneficial for your mental and physical health contained predatory ways to make money.
