Nintendo is officially releasing its new AR crossover with Niantic: Pikmin Bloom. Following in the footsteps of Pokemon GO, Bloom will inject everyone's favorite flowery friends into real life.
The name of the app has been released, but what exactly is it? The relaxed AR app will follow users as they wander around outside, and allow the creation and collection of all kinds of Pikmin. Here we will highlight ten things that both new and old fans should know about Pikmin Bloom before starting their adventures.
10 You Can Grow And Pick Pikmin
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If you're new to the idea of Pikmin, this may sound strange. The classic game series has colorful comrades that are grown like plants - and in Pikmin Bloom, this is no different.
There is also a seed-growing bonus involved here - by feeding and properly rearing Pikmin, and the longer a player walks and plants flowers for, the bigger the bonus. This impacts the speed at which Pikmin grow - the bigger the bonus, the quicker they sprout, and the quicker they can be collected and used!
9 You Collect Seeds By Walking
So how do players get seeds to grow Pikmin? By walking! As the app integrates real life, it focuses on players going for relaxing wanders around the world. These seeds are tied to steps - which equates to the motion of the device as the player walks.
Seeds will be placed in the players' backpack, which is like a tiny, mobile greenhouse! They will grow steadily in the incubation backpack, and then can be plucked out. The Pikmin can even be named, which is a new feature for the series.
8 Feeding Them Fruit Will Make Pikmin Bloom
Within the Pikmin series of games, feeding the main character and the Pikmin themselves is a key part. Most of the missions in the game revolve around harvesting food for both parties. Fruit is the big (literally) source of sustenance: lemons, strawberries, and more litter the surrounding area.
By feeding Pikmin with fruit - turned into Nectar - it will sprout more and more and increase the available population. Also, different color fruits will work to create different types of Pikmin - for instance, a juicy red strawberry will produce more red Pikmin.
7 Pikmin Can Be Sent On Expeditions
In the mainline games, Pikmin can be tasked with going out and exploring areas, or retrieving items. Pikmin Bloom has also incorporated this! After leveling up a few times, players can send a group of Pikmin off on expeditions.
These jaunts will be sending the plucky plants to go and collect fruits - these can be turned into Nectar to feed the Pikmin! As well as finding food, Pikmin can discover new outfits (presumably for the Mii avatars), accessories, and even new colors and types of the helpful sprouts.
6 Different Places Have Different Pikmin
As the sprouts and players discover new spaces and areas, more and more types of Pikmin will appear! The functionality of this will likely be similar to Pokemon GO where different locations spawn different types.
A whole rainbow of Pikmin friends is available: red, blue, black, pink - the list goes on! In the mainline games, they all appear in different locations and have different skills related to their color and design. It is likely that these will be somewhat tied to different locations in Bloom.
5 You Can Add Photos And Notes To Your Lifelog
Every Pikmin game has a sort of diary - Captain Olimar records his thoughts and findings of the new areas periodically in a Voyage Log. Pikmin Bloom has a similar function: the Lifelog!
This in-game diary turns normal days into fun memories by adding moods, photos, and comments to a daily recap - which also shows the number of steps and any achievements of the day. The Pikmin also retrieve postcards for you from the places that they have been, which are added to the Log along with any photos players upload themselves.
4 There Will Be Community Days
This has been confirmed, but so far there is no explanation of what players can expect. It is assumed that community days will focus on specific colors or types of Pikmin - especially the rarer kinds, and will maybe center on seasonal events in real life.
Pokemon GO's Community Days revolve around a specific Pokemon spawning more during a day and having themed raids. It will be very interesting to see how the Niantic and Nintendo teams work this into Pikmin Bloom - but we are excited nonetheless!
3 Bloom Uses Mii Avatars
So far there is no mention of Captain Olimar and co in Bloom, but they could be added during events or might be part of different aspects of the app: like the Professors on Pokemon GO. What players do use, however, is a Mii character.
Created as the game is opened, players will create their likeness in Nintendo's unforgettable avatar style. These avatars will appear on the over-world map and be a place marker for where the player currently is. It is unclear whether there will be purchasable clothing or hair items for Miis, but it is assumed that more intricate designs will be behind some form of paywall.
2 Adventure Sync Is Available From The Get-Go
A feature that was obviously missing from the inception of Pokemon GO was Adventure Sync. Niantic recognizes this and has made it available from the start with Pikmin Bloom. But what does it do?
Adventure sync counts steps that players take while not active on the app. It can be used with fitness apps on iOS and Android, or on its' own. This means that if a player goes for a nice stroll, but doesn't have the battery or time to keep the app open constantly, then their progress will still count to the game. Similarly, Pikmin can perform expeditions while the app is closed, too!
1 Purchase ‘Flower Coins’
No app would be complete without its own currency. Pikmin Bloom is free to begin, but there will be purchases available with 'Flower Coins'. They can be earned by planting flowers and interacting with the game (as well as being purchased in the store).
The in-game currency will be used to purchase decoration items for players' avatars, and can also be used to speed up some processes. Think of it like Animal Crossing Pocket Camp's 'Leaf Tickets' - they can be earned and spent to make life easier, but are not essential!
Pikmin Bloom was released on October 26, 2021, and is available for iOS and Android devices.