'Pokémon Pokopia' is a game about rehabilitating a broken world — and I love it | TechCrunch

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. On Friday night, my boyfriend and I sat on the couch for a refreshing evening of doing nothing together. We tuned into a baseball game, he picked up my guitar, and I eagerly booted up “Pokémon Pokopia,” the 30-year-old franchise’s new cozy life simulator game, which is unlike anything we’ve seen from Pokémon before. I narrated my experience as I played, explaining the process of constructing habitats to increase the comfort levels of my Pokémon friends, a primary objective of the game. “Onix is stuck in a cave, but I can’t break through the walls, so Squirtle suggested throwing a party to make it rain to soften the rocks,” I told my boyfriend as I played. “But Squirtle and I don’t know what ‘celebration’ means, so we have to ask Professor Tangrowth what it means to ‘party.’” I rejoiced when I finally made it rain and awakened Kyogre — but then Charmander, who calls me “bestie,” discovered that the rain makes the flame on its tail go out, so I had to build a little hut for shelter