Pokémon Fan Games

''Pokémon'' is a Japanese video game media franchise. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a large variety of species endowed with special powers. Pokémon are often used in the series to battle other Pokémon, both wild and trainer-owned, using the Pokémon's special abilities. Due to the Pokémon franchise's wide popularity, many fans of the series have attempted to produce unofficial fan-made games, which range from modifications of pre-existing games to larger, full-scale games. These fan projects have garnered a wide popularity and a strong subcommunity in the ''Pokémon'' fandom. Due to their popularity, many projects have faced legal issues from ''Pokémon'''s parent companies The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.

History, purpose, and community

Modifications of pre-existing games in the Pokémon series have been present in the Pokémon community since the games originally came out. Early devices such as GameShark and Action Replay allowed players to modify Pokémon games, letting them obtain in-game items and rare Pokémon species with greater ease. When emulation of video games became more popular and made games available to play on computers, fans began to produce full modifications of games. Done through methods such as ROM hacking, modifications of pre-existing games became popular within the ''Pokémon'' community and have maintained their popularity as technology to make them has improved. A bootleg pair of games, '' Pokémon Diamond and Jade'', based on the ''Keitai Denjū Telefang'' series, were cited as popular inspirations for many early ROM hacks.

ROM hacks tend to add new content, such as custom storylines, new game mechanics, and other features not present in the original games, with some creating entirely new games unrelated to the ''Pokémon'' series. Most still tend to follow the sequence of official ''Pokémon'' games, often utilizing similar story beats, narrative progression, and mapping styles. Many ROM hacks focus on making quality of life improvements, such as adding features introduced in later installments to older games in the series, or by making more species of Pokémon available to players of the game. ROM hacks can also utilize or add many elements that would not normally be featured in the ''Pokémon'' franchise, with many including aspects such as references to sexual themes, language considered vulgar, and violence and gore. Many fan-made games also add fan-made Pokémon species, known as " Fakemon." Another type of fan-made Pokémon game, known as fan games, are more difficult to create and often utilize game development tools separate from hacking the original games. These games often take years for their creators to develop. The 2007 release of ''Pokémon Essentials'', an ''RPG Maker XP'' game, made it easier for fans to produce these fangames, allowing a greater ease of creation than before.

Fan games and ROM hacks are popular with the wider ''Pokémon'' community, with many popular fan games achieving high player counts. ''Kotaku'' author Patricia Hernandez stated that "fan games have always been a big part of the culture" in the ''Pokémon'' community. Though the creation of fan-produced content for a time was not considered mainstream, the release of ''Pokémon Essentials'' has been cited by prominent creators in the community for its ease of use in helping create more fan-made ''Pokémon'' games. Due to the reliance on ''Essentials'', many fangames use a 2D art-style, which influences how the games are produced. Many online communities have been formed focusing on these fan-produced games, including forums such as Relic Castle and PokéCommunity.

Legal issues

The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have attempted to target modifications done to Pokémon games, with newer entries in the series including more anti-modification measures in an attempt to curb hacking. Legal action is frequently threatened against both modifications of both fan games and modifications of pre-existing Pokémon games though companies have been stated to be more neutral against minor alterations, and do not go after many games directly. IP media strategist Alex Tutty, in an interview with ''Wired'', stated that Nintendo often took action on fangames in order to avoid a given franchise's IP from eroding, as not taking action toward the infringement caused by fan-games would be seen as negligence toward the IP on the part of the company. Lawyer Ryan Morrison, in an interview with ''PC Gamer'', additionally suggested that having a free alternative to paid releases in the form of fan-made ''Pokémon'' games threatened sales of ''Pokémon'' products. Don McGowan, a former lawyer who worked for The Pokémon Company, stated that he would monitor games that received coverage in the press, though he would often not engage with a given fan-made game on a legal basis until the game received monetary funding. The producer of the ''Pokémon'' games, Junichi Masuda, commented on fan-made games, stating that "I see a lot of people on Twitter ending medifferent takes n ''Pokémon''.. If I see that you are having fun creating things, or working on an art project...working on game development, we kind of share that feeling f appreciation" Masuda encouraged individuals who worked on these projects to apply to work on production of official ''Pokémon'' games.

Due to the prominence of video sharing sites such as YouTube and Twitch, fan produced games receive more publicity than they did in the past. This publicity has led to an increase in games being shut down by both Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, with notable examples including the fan-game '' Pokémon Uranium'' and the ROM hack '' Pokémon Prism'', the latter of which received a cease and desist a few days prior to its release. The website Relic Castle, a major forum and website for fan-made Pokémon games, was taken down by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in 2024 due to issues of copyright.

The increased risks of legal issues have led to many creators of fan-made games attempting to "play it safe" in regards to promoting their games. ROM hacking communities additionally try to clamp down on the sharing of pirated copies of ''Pokémon'' games to use as a base for ROM hacking, often encouraging the purchase of official copies to use instead. Sharing modified games proves difficult due to the inability to share copies of official ''Pokémon'' games, both altered and unaltered, as well as due to difficulties with many game systems' firmware.

List of individual games

}) for mobile phone platforms Android and iOS, the game was produced by Innovative Game Co., Ltd. As of 2024 the game has been in operation for years, going under different names and multiple different versions to avoid copyright litigation from Nintendo. Despite simple gameplay, the title generates revenue from character skins for the individual Pokémon.

The game's popularity has been attributed to acting as an alternative to other mobile ''Pokémon'' games, which are banned in China. While the game's lengthy animations received praise, Hideaki Fujiwara of ''Automaton Media'' suggested its portrayal of some characters may damage the image of the ''Pokémon'' franchise.
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!row=scope , ''Pokedoku''
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, Doku_Games
, A web browser game that acts as a ''Pokémon''-themed version of sudoku. The game uses a three-by-three grid, with three columns and three rows containing different categories, which can relate to different aspects of a Pokémon species, such as type, in-universe region of origin, or if they have a special form or not. Players must select a Pokémon if they match the description given in both an intersecting column and row. Players have limited guesses to select the right answer. Players get a higher score if they choose options that were not widely chosen by other players. ''Pokedoku'' offers both daily puzzles and an "unlimited mode," allowing players to play as many games of ''Pokedoku'' as they would like.
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!row=scope , ''PokeMMO''
, July 25, 2012
, Squirtle
, A massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG, based on the ''Pokémon'' games. The game has been updated since its release in 2012. The game uses emulator software and requires ROMs of games from throughout the series in order to play, though it alters them to allow for the online multiplayer mechanics.
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!row=scope , '' Pokémon Prism''
, Unreleased
, Adam (Koolboyman)
, A ''Pokémon'' ROM hack based on ''Pokémon Crystal''. ''Pokémon Prism'' takes place in a region known as Naljo, with the player taking the role of the son or daughter of Lance, the Pokémon Champion of ''Crystal''. The game started development in 2008 and development updates were released publicly. The game's trailer gained approximately 1.4 million views, receiving a large amount of attention from fans of the ''Pokémon'' series, with large communities forming surrounding the game's release.
The game received a cease and desist notice just days prior to the game's release. Following its cancellation, the files for the completed game were leaked onto 4chan by an anonymous group, claiming that they had obtained them because "some dev was careless". The game grew popular among its fanbase following the leak, with fans of the game creating alterations and bug fixes that creator Adam was unable to complete.
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!row=scope , ''Pokémon Sage''
, In Development
, /vp/
, A fangame in development by members of the 4chan board /vp/. ''Sage'' takes place in a fictional South American-inspired region called Urobos. The game's demo features the player character, named either Simon or Sophia depending on the selected gender, racing against their rival Richardo to become a top Pokémon trainer. ''Sage'' has released information regarding hundreds of Fakemon, and features an original map and plot.
''Sage'' has an active fanbase, with a Wiki containing all information on the game as it is released. The game's high quality has been considered to be a reason for the strong fan following.
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!row=scope , ''Pokémon Showdown''
, October 2011
, Guangcong “Zarel” Luo
, A Pokémon battling simulator which allows players to test strategies and battle against other players. Players can either use a random battle format, which uses pre-made movesets and strategies on a random team of Pokémon, or build their own teams to use in many of the competitive formats available on the website. ''Showdown'' is highly associated with popular competitive ''Pokémon'' format Smogon, and uses its tiering system for competitive battling. ''Showdown'' is primarily used by competitive players, who cite its ease of use and convenience, as it allows them to build and test team compositions without needing to spend time obtaining them in official games. ''Showdown'' has over one million unique visitors a month.
''Showdown'' was referenced by competitor James Milton Johnson IV on the reality television series '' Love Is Blind'', where he stated he had a strong ranking on the simulator's competitive formats. ''Showdown'''s Twitter account later debunked Johnson's claims following the episode's airing.
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!row=scope , '' Pokémon Uranium''
, August 6, 2016
, Involuntary-Twitch
, A ''Pokémon'' fangame set in a region inspired by Rio de Janeiro. The player character is a 13-year-old who has to leave home due to their caretaker being unable to provide for them. The game features a large number of Fakemon and an in-game elemental type known as Nuclear. Nuclear Pokémon are often corrupted and feral versions of normal Pokémon. The game also has online features, a rare feature in fangames.
''Uranium'' proved highly popular within the ''Pokémon'' fandom, garnering over 1.5 million downloads within a few weeks of the game's release. Nintendo issued a DMCA takedown notice soon after, causing the game to become more widely known than it already had been. The takedown was met with heavy criticism by the ''Pokémon'' fanbase. ''Uranium'', alongside ''Metroid'' fan-remake ''AM2R'', were both nominated for the "Best Fan Creation" category at the 2016 Game Awards, though both were pulled following their takedowns by Nintendo.
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!''Pokémon Zeta and Omicron''
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, Wyatt Verchere (thesuzerain) and Sir_Willis_CMS
, A fangame made using RPG Maker. The game follows the player, whose hometown is destroyed by the villainous team Asgard or Olympus, depending on which game is being played. It includes all Pokémon of the first five generations, as well as some from the sixth generation. The game also includes Delta species, spread over two in-game regions. The game also features multiplayer and an in-game Nuzlocke mode.

References

{{Pokémon
Unauthorized video games
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