Ranking Every Pokémon Mobile Game Worst To Best

Pokémon GO isn't the best thing you could be playing...

Pokemon Games
Nintendo

Everyone loves a Pokemon game. Whether you started by catching Rattatas in Red and Blue, or only got in to the games recently by catching Alolan Rattatas in Sun and Moon, anyone who has played a Pokemon game has been drawn in by catching and fielding the best army of pets they can.

But there's a wild range of games beyond this core series that not everyone knows about. From the Trading Card Game and the Mystery Dungeon series to some obscurer titles that are hard to come by or only available via digital download, there are many, many subseries and standalone games that take the beloved pets on adventures.

In particular, there are now many Pokemon games available on mobile devices and tablets. Some of these are ports of games originally available on other platforms, such as the Switch, and others are games unique to mobile devices that deliver gameplay unavailable anywhere else.

Unfortunately, not all of these games are born equal. While many come out to huge acclaim and popularity, like the popular Pokemon Go, others go unnoticed like a hard-to-catch Ghastly. In order to help you decide which to play (and which to leave in the Pokemon Day Care), I played them all for you.

7. Pokemon Magikarp Jump

Pokemon Games
Nintendo

The worst Pokemon game is based on the worst Pokemon, Magikarp, which seems rather fitting.

Magikarp Jump takes place in a town where people only ever catch or use one Pokemon - you can guess which - and they compete to see how high their Magikarp can jump. Gameplay consists of clicking on food to tell your fish to eat it and... well, that's just about it. There's no real gameplay.

The point of the game is to train your Pokemon to jump as high as it can and beat various leagues, but all you do to train or battle is watch cutscenes of your Pokemon doing the work themselves. There's nothing for the player to do save decorate their pond, tell the Magikarp to eat food in it, and sometimes try to catch a Magikarp that looks minimally different.

The game was released to little fanfare, which isn't surprising given that there's nothing interesting that could be put in a trailer, and the image the title evokes, of a Flappy Bird-like reaction game, is far more interesting than the glorified Tamagotchi we got.

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Contributor
Contributor

I'm based in the UK, looking to make a career out of writing about entertainment and culture. The only thing I like as much as watching films, playing games or listening to music is enjoying as much hummus and crisps as I can while I do so. My favourite film is Eddie the Eagle and I like any game that lets me wander around beautiful worlds (or eat hummus and crisps).