New Pokémon Puzzle Game "Pokémon Friends" launches on Switch and Mobile

A new game titled Pokémon Friends has been released, offering a puzzle-based experience designed for players of all ages.

The game was developed through a partnership between The Pokémon Company and Wonderfy, a company that specializes in educational and intellectual training content.

It launched on Tuesday, the 22nd of July, 2025, on Nintendo Switch, as well as on iOS and Android devices.

Instead of the traditional role of a Pokémon Trainer, the player takes on the role of a plushie shop owner in a new location called Think Town.

The main objective is to create cute Pokémon plushies from a material known as “Itodama,” or thread balls.

To create the plushies, players must first “untangle” the threads by solving a wide variety of brain-teaser puzzles.

These puzzles, which include one-stroke drawings and spatial reasoning challenges, are based on problems from Wonderfy’s existing educational app, “Think!Think!,” and have been re-themed for the Pokémon universe.

Many of the puzzles are directly inspired by the characteristics of different Pokémon, such as a maze based on Scorbunny’s jumping or a trolley problem featuring Sableye.

The free-to-play mobile version of the game contains over 1,200 of these puzzles.

After solving a puzzle, the collected thread balls can be put into a “Plushie Machine” to craft a random Pokémon plush toy.

These crafted plushies can then be used to decorate a personal “Plushie Room,” with a high degree of freedom in how items and furniture are placed and arranged.

Players will also receive requests from the townspeople for specific plushies, and fulfilling these requests rewards them with new furniture and other items.

The game is designed to be a gentle experience, with developers stating they were conscious of “not being too stimulating.”

The free mobile version limits puzzle-solving to once per day, and the paid versions include parental controls to set daily limits, ensuring a healthy play balance for younger users.

The mobile version of Pokémon Friends is free-to-play with in-app purchases, while the Nintendo Switch version is a paid, download-only title, with the base game priced at ¥1,400 / $9.99 USD and a “Bundle Pack” containing additional content available for ¥4,700 / $25.99 USD.