Pokémon fans ca n't complain about Game Freak's release schedule. While other studios take up to ten years between games, the Japanese company releases a new title featuring their pocket monsters almost every year. What those of us who have played Pokémon since its inception do tend to criticize is the lack of evolution in the series. Pokémon mechanics have barely changed in over 25 years. Game Freak hasn't fully exploited the potential of its franchise for years; it focuses solely on selling games to children, ignoring a huge audience that already has mortgages and would be thrilled to play Pokémon games aimed at adults. For this very reason, that market is currently dominated by fan games. With the tool we're going to talk about today, creating one of these will be a little easier.
Pokémon fangames, the future for the nostalgic?
Just as there are Pokémon fans who play the games over and over again with made-up rules to add complexity to the games, there are others who dedicate themselves to creating their own Pokémon adventures. The Pokémon Company, these fans are not usually very amused, but the truth is that they contribute a lot to the community, and we cannot say that they actively profit from their creations.
There are quite a few fan-made Pokémon games worth playing. Obviously, none of them feel like playing an official title, as they're generally one-person games that often contain bugs. But overall, downloading and playing one of these games on your phone can be a pretty entertaining experience.
The 8 bits return with Dokimon RPG
The problem is that creating a game like Pokémon isn't easy. In fact, many games of this type often remain unfinished precisely because of the difficulties that can arise during programming. Until now, many indie Pokémon game creators have used RPG Maker, but things may change with the arrival of Dokimon + Monster Tamer Maker, a program for creating Pokémon-style games with Game Boy Color graphics.
It's HERE! The announcement of Dokimon and a NEW game making engine specifically made for Monster Tamer games.
This is the new era we all deserve. Limitless monster tamer games, made for gamers, by gamers. https://t.co/U6eUYUSrU5 pic.twitter.com/duoPAiGi6T
— Yanako RPGs – ヤナ小坂 (@yanako_rpgs) May 13, 2022
Yana, the programmer behind Dokimon, has been working on this project for eight years. She has managed to program the foundation of this game engine, which now supports the creation of maps, battle arenas, and creature information. Currently, the plan is to raise funds on Kickstarter to finance the program, with a goal of $10.000 to complete the first funding round. This money will not be used to refine the program's code, but rather to pay the artists and add more assets to the software's libraries.
If all goes well, Dokimon's release date will be in December 2022 , so in 2023 we could see a resurgence of Pokémon games with those Game Boy graphics that we loved so much in the late 90s.