A screenshot from the trailer for Pikmin Bloom

Image: Niantic

Briefly and vaguely announced back in March, Nintendo and Niantic just took the wraps off Pikmin Bloom, the latest game to come from the partnership between the two companies.

It is, unsurprisingly, a lot like Pokémon Go, in that it’s about getting out into the real world and interacting with stuff. The idea is that you’re encouraged to get out of the house and go for walks, finding Pikmin seeds along the way. The more Pikmin you find, the more you can have follow you around on the screen, leaving a huge trail of flowers in your wake that other players will be able to see.

In a nice touch, your avatars in this game are depicted as Miis. The game’s debut trailer is below, which also features a brief presentation from Shigeru Miyamoto.

This all looks cute and wholesome and lovely, but it also doesn’t seem like there’s much here to do beyond walking around and making those journals, since the Pikmin universe doesn’t have the same focus on extra activities like battle, or catching unique and memorable creatures like Pokémon does. It’s tough seeing this making much headway based on word of mouth either, since Pokémon (and Pokemon Go by extension) is a pop culture juggernaut known and beloved the world over, while Pikmin by comparison is a series that’s really only thought of fondly by Nintendo fans of a certain age.

But then, replicating Pokemon Go’s success here probably isn’t the goal! Pikmin Bloom seems like it’s just happy being something that wants to get you outside, and once out there make your walks just a tiny bit more interesting. If it can succeed even a little with those humbler goals, then maybe that’s all it wanted to do.

I’m in Australia and the game is already out (albeit without the final title), and Ninantic say it’ll be rolling out globally in the coming days.

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