Niantic's AR mobile game Pikmin Bloom has not reached the heights of its predecessor Pokemon GO, but both focus on community building in their own ways. Whereas Pokemon GO sticks players into three teams that each focus on capturing Gyms and raid battles, Pikmin Bloom lets friends go on walks together and tackle expeditions removing mushroom patches around real-world neighborhoods. A new "Weekly Challenge" feature is designed to give those friends more to do.
These Weekly Challenges are one of the first major additions to Pikmin Bloom since launch in October 2021, acting as an extension of what the game already does well: tracking players' steps like a fitness app. However, unlike the more casual walk "with others" feature that lets users see one another while planting flowers, Weekly Challenges set lofty goals that friends all across the globe can work to complete. This is undoubtedly a boon for the game, but more tailored rewards would help the activity feel worth its effort.
How Weekly Challenges Build Upon Pikmin Bloom's Core
The basic gameplay loop in Pikmin Bloom has players find Seedlings that grow after a certain number of steps, then build friendship with the Pikmin until they earn decor based on where they were found. Petals can be collected by feeding the Pikmin nectar from fruit that's discovered alongside Seedlings, and these petals are planted in exchange for Coins — the game's microtransaction currency.
Pikmin Bloom's first Weekly Challenge set dropped on April 28, giving teams of five players the option to walk a collective 50,000 or 100,000 steps — with any friend of each participant able to join the group up to its cap. While each person's steps are tracked individually and displayed in a colorful progress bar, ultimately everyone shares the prize. Nectar of various colors are on offer, with rarer types available from tougher challenges, and even if the group doesn't reach their step goal there is a smaller participation prize.
Only one challenge can be undertaken per-week, though the in-app announcement says this is just "the current participation limit," with new activities set to be added "soon." Pre-release briefings suggest these activities will include other known facets of the game like flower planting and Pikmin plucking goals. Niantic releasing more multiplayer content is smart, but the general lack of innovation in what that content includes leaves much to be desired.
More Rewards That Could Help Weekly Challenges
Completing a 50,000 step Weekly Challenge rewards players with a few dozen pieces of nectar in the basic four colors: white, yellow, red, and blue. This isn't much considering every one nectar (or two white nectar) equates to one petal, and as each level-up allows players to include additional Pikmin in their squad, there are a lot of mouths to feed. Since the content is disconnected from Pikmin Bloom's primary decor rewards, Weekly Challenges could use their own unique type of reward. Leaning into its multiplayer aspect could help.
As with all Nintendo mobile apps, players can link their My Nintendo account and use Miis as their avatar. A few clothing options are available, but nowhere near the kind of robust catalog available in Pokemon GO, which adds outfit pieces regularly. Pikmin Bloom's microtransaction shop doesn't include Mii character clothing either, so Weekly Challenges could be one avenue to add some more and develop a matching friend circle. Groups that reach their goal each week could receive a rotating set of outfits, similar to how the Pikmin flower variety switches out each month.
If Niantic wants to push this new activity further, it could also add items with utility for the game itself. The shop also includes upgrades for things like Pikmin and nectar storage capacity, but these are only available using real money. Conquering difficult group challenges seems like an alternative to receive these items, or more in-game currency, making the rest of the game easier for dedicated fans and encouraging community building in one fell-swoop. At this point, time will tell whether the developer makes its Weekly Challenges more worthwhile as they develop.
Pikmin Bloom is available now on Android and iOS devices.