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In the wake of a taste of world peace courtesy of Pokemon Go, it's beyond doubt that the monster collecting series stands as one of the most ubiquitous gaming titles around. Pikachu is every bit as famous as Disney's mascot, if not more so. The continued pandemonium surrounding trading card values guarantees near-daily Pokemon news stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pokémon game that failed to move at least a few million units. Even, fan-made Pokémon games go viral annually.

Yet in spite of that pervasiveness and fame, some Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These represent titles that didn't get their proper due, or were buried by the excitement of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games released on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto new mediums. They're often also Pokémon games that might have flourished if they had received sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering yet another reminder for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're pulling an Excadrill.

Still, these might be these Pokémon games. So, before adjusting your spectacles and writing 'Well,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, shall we?

Pokémon Ranch: The Relaxed Forerunner

An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the ordinary aspects that would come with living with a pet. Admittedly, there are small features like these in modern games—you can play with your monsters in camps. But I am dying for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.

My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Nintendo Wii is not that game. The digital-only title is most accurately viewed as the antecedent to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to hold monsters from various titles. Critical reception from its launch said Ranch was a poor if not truly ugly game. It's not my goal to dispute these notions, but it compels me to say Ranch might be the nearest we've ever gotten to a everyday life Pokémon game.

True to its title, the game is set on a farm where your Mii avatars—get this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The activities with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when they're not being forced into battle. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a wonderful franchise built on the simple pleasures of living your life with a small creature. But since The Pokémon Company can charge a subscription for Pokémon Home now, it's likely we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game realized to its fullest potential. I'd say 'save us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but it's also known that the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life simulation.

Ranch was released long before Stardew Valley kicked off the enduring trend of comfort gaming. It was before the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't playing. Many never understood that Ranch's proposal to watch your critters as much as you interact with them wasn't to hide a shallow core. In truth, Ranch's meticulous design was so extraordinary, a Twitch stream dedicated to running the game continuously. The individual who operates the channel maintains that, after almost twenty years of playing the game, he still has not seen everything that is in it. Justice for Pokémon Ranch: no one understood you in 2008.

Pokémon Duel: The Strategic Tabletop Game Lost

Are you aware that Pokemon once had an licensed board game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to adapt the physical experience in a more approachable format. Duel was also, unfortunately, one of Pokémon's first ventures into the world of free-to-play mobile gaming. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could pay to win—and there was motivation to do so, given the lengthy grind for new pieces.

All of these questionable mechanics obfuscated a tragic reality: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel today. "I can’t express how much I loved and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Truly I think this game was superior to TCG Pocket in terms of complexity, accessibility, design, and content in general," another commenter wrote. "I truly believe if it came out now people would be engaging with it more than GO and Pocket together."

Regrettably, Duel's early release was marred by server issues. Technical problems, alongside Duel's scummy monetization model, gave people little reason to return. If, by some miracle, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would end better. The unusual game board made for a great strategic challenge for the handful of players who played Duel, but that board is also a intimidating visual mess.

Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Absurd Experiment

Wow, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a concept so silly, it was bordering on shitpost. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a full belt of ineffective monsters who simply cannot do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that laugh at themselves.

Within Magikarp Jump, the player is tasked with breeding the best possible version of the notorious fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter contests to see who can jump the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, requires the player to pause before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the community love around Magikarp.

This was most apparent than in Jump's brutal random events, where your Magikarp was as likely to raise its stats as it was to get snatched by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the great writing, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games would do, like offering a wide variety of the same species of monster. It's understood it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have dozens of colorings and patterns for a roster of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.

Magikarp Jump was not a particularly complex or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes that forever alter how you can raise a pet also describe the excellent Mewgenics. And I'm just saying: Mewgenics will almost certainly be in the conversation when Game of the Year season arrives.

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With dozens of core games and derivative titles, it's probable that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that too few people played. I know that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Pinball with affection despite argu