You lead three tiny astronauts and command squads of plant-like Pikmin by throwing them at fruit, enemies, and obstacles. Each day is a short countdown where you split your team to carry food back to the ship before time runs out. It plays like a gentle puzzle with a clock attached, and losing Pikmin along the way can sting.
Gameplay video
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Screenshots & review notes
The verdict
This port holds up better than expected, still one of the most elegant real-time strategy games Nintendo has ever made.
The mechanics
Managing three captains at once forces genuine multitasking, and the day-length time pressure keeps every expedition feeling purposeful rather than aimless.
Presentation
The alien flora and fauna are rendered with a tactile, almost diorama-like beauty that still looks sharp years after its original Wii U release.
Staying power
Bingo Battle and added story content pad things out nicely, and it's a great entry point for anyone who missed it the first time around.
Frames captured from the gameplay video above; notes are our own take on the game.
What it's like to play
You are stranded on an overgrown planet at the scale of an insect, with a food supply that ticks down every day, and you need to gather fruit to survive long enough to fix your ship. That food timer is the pressure that shapes everything, because every in-game day you waste costs you a portion of juice and brings you closer to starving.
You control three explorers, and the smart way to play is to split them up. Send one with a group of the little plant creatures to build a bridge on the far side of the map, put another on hauling a piece of fruit back to base, and take the third out to scout a new area, switching between them as each job finishes. Your helpers come in colors with different abilities, red ones resist fire, blue ones can swim, winged ones fly over walls, and matching the right group to the right obstacle is the core of the puzzle.
When the sun goes down you must have everyone back at the ship, because anything left outside gets eaten. That deadline turns each day into a neat little logistics problem, and replaying a day to shave off wasted minutes is genuinely fun. This version adds all the extra mission stages from the original release, a co-op mode so two people can share the work on the same screen, and side stories starring other characters. At around fifteen hours it is compact, tidy, and the most elegant entry in the series.