Pikmin Bloom (mobile)

[MindFreak]

New smartphone game from Niantic is rolling out today!

Quote

Niantic, Inc. today started the global launch of Pikmin Bloom, a smartphone app designed to bring a little joy to your everyday journeys on foot. Jointly developed by Niantic and Nintendo, Pikmin Bloom allows you to spice up your daily walks with the help of your very own squad of Pikmin. It will be available on the App Store and Google Play over the coming days.

What are Pikmin?
Pikmin are tiny, plant-like creatures that exist all around us but cannot be seen with the naked eye. Pikmin Bloom enables you to see and interact with them. Pikmin grow from seedlings, and the ones that you grow and pick will follow you around. They love nectar extracted from fruit and, when you feed them, they’ll sprout flowers atop their heads. There are lots of different types of Pikmin to encounter and interact with in Pikmin Bloom.

Walk to grow more Pikmin
The most important thing in Pikmin Bloom is your daily walk. As you walk, you’ll find Pikmin seedlings along your path, so the more you walk, the more your Pikmin squad will grow. You can then pluck Pikmin from seedlings after they grow. Walk more to make more friends with Pikmin!

Walk to make flowers bloom
Walking with your Pikmin will make flowers bloom along your path. When you feed Pikmin nectar from the various fruits you pick up in the game, beautiful flowers bloom atop their heads. Collect the petals to plant them as you walk and flowers will bloom with each and every step you take, leaving a colorful trail behind you. Watch the world come alive as you transform it to create shared trails of flowers!

Walk to log your memories
At the end of the day, you can review the number of steps you took as well as the routes you walked. You have the option to add notes and photos to your lifelog, providing a way to turn an ordinary day into a special memory. Pikmin may also bring back postcards of the places you visited, which can be saved and kept, or sent to friends in the app.

A day to walk with everyone
Pikmin Bloom will be holding a monthly Community Day event, where you can stroll, plant and play together with other players. Stay tuned for more details!

Pikmin Bloom, which is free to play, is available now on the App Store and Google Play in Australia and Singapore, and is coming to other countries and regions shortly. Please follow @PikminBloom on Twitter and @PikminBloom on Instagram for updates.

With Pikmin Bloom as your partner, you can make your daily strolls more memorable and fun. We look forward to seeing the world fill up with flowers!

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by MindFreak

[Ashley]

Hmm

I walk a lot and I like the franchise but I don't really want another battery-draining app and nor do I find any long-term appeal in taking AR photos. 

I may check it out to see how passive it is; can you just leave it in your pocket and it'll record the walk and still do it's thing. 

Just a shame they seemingly aren't using any profits for green preservation in the real world but hey ho.

[Mandalore]

3 hours ago, Ashley said:

I walk a lot and I like the franchise but I don't really want another battery-draining app and nor do I find any long-term appeal in taking AR photos.

If it's like Pokémon Go, it'll link to Google Fit (or whatever the Apple equivalent is). So it can track your walking without the app being on in the background.

[Ashley]

8 minutes ago, Mandalore said:

If it's like Pokémon Go, it'll link to Google Fit (or whatever the Apple equivalent is). So it can track your walking without the app being on in the background.

Yeah I asked Tom who has been playing it and said similar:

also posted some early opinions:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-10-26-pikmin-bloom-release-this-week-gardening-scavening-pokemon

 

 

[Dcubed]

It's literally just a reskin of Pokemon Go lol.

[Ronnie]

Fun little idea. I'll definitely give it a go.

 

That's also a brilliant trailer, I'm really impressed with Nintendo's mobile game ads. Super Mario Run's was also great.

[S.C.G]

Pikmin Bloom app launches today across mobile devices

Now up on the main page.

Press release and launch trailer.

- - - - -

[Ike]

Available in Europe now. 
 

 

[Ashley]

Downloaded it this morning and played around a bit. I chose "go for a walk" before going to the gym (and forgot about it until about 40 minutes into my session so I left it) and then when I got home I closed the app and it still registered my evening walk. Not surprising as it does connect to Google Fit but it's good to know I can just look at it now and then and not have it draining my battery all the time. 

I'm sure I'll get bored of it quickly but it has its charms. 

[Mandalore]

I've been playing it for a few days, enjoyed what I've seen of it so far. I like how the game is more walking focused than Pokémon Go. The level up system is directly related to the amount of steps you walk and it's easy to start planting flowers at the beginning of the walk and then just put your phone away and not be constantly distracted by it.

[Ashley]

No judgment but what were you doing there little Pikmin?

[Dufniall]

Installed it myself and plucked my first Pikmin. Not sure if this is going to be interesting for the long run as I think it has less of the collectability appeal that Pokémon has, but at least the Pikmin are charming.

Also: my friend code is 0864 0948 6112

[Ashley]

3 hours ago, Vileplume2000 said:

Also: my friend code is 0864 0948 6112

Added and found out you can't paste into the friend code field. That Nintendo online experience eh. 

Mine is 5504 1622 5060

Edit

Oh wait you can, just the usual android paste option doesn't pop up but the gboard clipboard does let you paste.

[Cube]

Mine is 9757 2187 7794

[BowserBasher]

Downloaded it this morning and will see what I think, added you three as friends and here’s my code for anyone else. 6271 6914 3505

[Cube]

I tried the planting flower thing on my walk home from. I laughed when the coin reward was a single coin. Only £0.0079 worth, and only 8 months of walking to and from work (while doing the same on a weekend) to get the cheapest box for sale.

That's provided you have enough petals, gathering them by feeding them nectar is a massive pain.

 

 

[Will]

I’m really quite enjoying this as something to do a few times a day and just grow my little gang of Pikmin. I think they’ve actually done a pretty good job of making something that fits with the IP, which I absolutely love. The UI could be a bit more intuitive but other than that it’s all good.

I do wonder if this will have much longevity? Pokémon totally makes sense that people will spend years collecting the hundreds and hundreds of them but there’s like 10 Pikmin now? Not sure how much putting a Mario hat on different ones every so often will entice most people.

Added everyone above and my code is 9921 2212 0532.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Will

[BowserBasher]

10 hours ago, Will said:

I’m really quite enjoying this as something to do a few times a day and just grow my little gang of Pikmin.

This is what I’m liking about it. I can just check in maybe once a day even at the end of the day just to see what’s grown and send some pikmin on expeditions. 
I’m sure they will have to introduce some things to keep it going as right now I do think it’ll wear thin quick (they should add collecting more real items in expeditions li,E the games had you collect batteries and things like that. But then just logging in once a day helps. 

[Ashley]

Just looked at it for the first time since Friday as I kept forgetting about it over the weekend so I don't know how long I'll last. Kind of nice to have a cumulative step total count though. Since installing it last Tuesday I've taken 200,000 steps apparently. 

[Will]

2 hours ago, BowserBasher said:

This is what I’m liking about it. I can just check in maybe once a day even at the end of the day just to see what’s grown and send some pikmin on expeditions. 

Yeah for sure, really nice seeing what they’ve come back with and then sending them off on some other missions.

2 hours ago, BowserBasher said:

I’m sure they will have to introduce some things to keep it going as right now I do think it’ll wear thin quick (they should add collecting more real items in expeditions li,E the games had you collect batteries and things like that. But then just logging in once a day helps. 

Ah that would be awesome. If there were parts to collect that turned into something it would be pretty cool, maybe you can only get certain things from certain places and have to trade to complete the thing. Would be very true to the brand and actually add a ton of longevity to the game.

46 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Since installing it last Tuesday I've taken 200,000 steps apparently. 

I just saw this. I’m not sure if it’s due to being in lockdown so much and not walking but isn’t that an absolutely insane amount of steps??

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, Will said:

I just saw this. I’m not sure if it’s due to being in lockdown so much and not walking but isn’t that an absolutely insane amount of steps??

Done slightly more last week than usual (went for a run both days of the weekend and for a walk Friday afternoon) but broadly in line with what I normally do. It gets the data from Google Fit which is higher than Fitbit (never quite sure why) but even Fitbit says I did ~155,000 in that period. 

[Jimbob]

Sent requests to everyone who posted a code above, for others mine is 8553 5584 7495

This weekend brings the first Pikmin Community Day.  It'll be different to other games CD, get a badge for walking 10,000 steps in a day, seeds will grow faster and more nectar from fruits.

Been finding the game pretty decent, nice for it to record steps without the game being open.  Got an app on my phone which syncs my Samsung watch steps to Google Fit once a day.  When i'm doing stuff like Ring Fit or making a cuppa, i don't tend to carry my phone around, so at least i'll get a few extra steps in.

[Ronnie]

Playing this a lot more than I thought I would but I agree with previous comments, more gameplay centred on collecting would go down well.  

[Will]

I’m up to 3,500 steps on the challenge. When it gets a bit cooler outside I’ll walk around the condo until I hit 10k. 

Everyone else going to try and complete it?

[Ashley]

3 hours ago, Will said:

I’m up to 3,500 steps on the challenge. When it gets a bit cooler outside I’ll walk around the condo until I hit 10k. 

Everyone else going to try and complete it?

I've accidentally completed it (forgot it was on). Not got confirmation yet but I see from the news feed thing it may take a while. 

Went to Leicester the other day and just noticed it's got exhibitions all along the train line now which will apparently take hours to complete. Might ignore those.