Let’s face it. There are a lot of Pokemon mobile games these days, from Pokemon Go to Pokemon TCG Pocket and beyond. With each of these live-service games demanding daily attention, it can be hard to keep up. That’s why they can’t all enjoy the same massive fan base, and a game with a premise like Pokemon Sleep‘s can be a tough sell. Cards on the table, I adore this intentionally slow-paced Pokemon game/sleep tracker. But even I can see that the game needs to make some changes if it wants to retain its player base, let alone attract new ones.
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Pokemon Sleep came out in July 2023 and recently celebrated its second anniversary. The game is a sort of sleep tracker meets casual game, and that makes it a harder sell than some of the more gaming-focused mobile titles. In order to meet and befriend Pokemon, you have to track your sleep. And that can be tough to remember, making it easy to fall off the game after a night or two of missed sleep. But that’s not Pokemon Sleep‘s only issue.
Pokemon Sleep’s Struggle to Keep Players Engaged
I’ve been playing Pokemon Sleep pretty routinely since it first came out. But in full transparency, I only picked it up at all because it’s my job to know about these things. I didn’t expect to fall in love with a Pokemon sleep tracker. Yet a few months later, I was so obsessed that I ended up buying a Pokemon Go Plus+ just so it’d be easier to track my sleep and fall asleep to podcast reruns simultaneously.
The game has a beautiful art style and a delightfully cozy soundtrack. But its gameplay loop can be a bit of an acquired taste. Pokemon Sleep is intentionally slow, something that makes it tricky to compete with fast-paced games that are always demanding your attention.
In Pokemon Sleep, you’ve got three built-in check-ins a day. In the morning, you review your sleep, catch new Pokemon, and give Snorlax its breakfast. Then, dedicated players check in again at lunch, and again at dinner. Three Snorlax meals per day, three reasons to open the app. Feeding Snorlax takes just a few minutes to grab your ingredients, put them together, and make it happen.
While you’re in the app, you might check in to see if you can level up your team. Or perhaps you’ll swap out a Pokemon that isn’t pulling its weight that week. Maybe set an incense for the night, or collect some achievement rewards. But beyond that, there’s not a ton to do in the game between sleep sessions. Yes, you could dig deep into perfecting your team and leveling up your Pokemon. And really dedicated players do. But there needs to be a bit more to the game if it hopes to keep people engaged.
That’s why I was pretty surprised by the Pokemon Sleep segment in the Pokemon Direct earlier this month. I was ready for a big announcement, some major event to draw players back in. Instead, they’re rehashing a previous event with Raikou, Suicune, and Entei. This is great for players who missed them the first time around, but for the rest of us, it’s a bit of a letdown. And yes, they’re also adding a new island to unlock, but still, I expected more. Thanks to a new leak, it at least looks like more may be in the works, eventually.
New Leak Suggests We Could See Trading in Pokemon Sleep
One of the most baffling things in Pokemon Sleep, in my opinion, is the friends list. You can add other players, but there’s barely any way to interact with them. Each day, you can get a few extra Pokemon candies by checking your friends’ research. But that’s about it. And in a franchise where community and trading are often centered, that feels a bit weird.
Recently, a new patent filing suggested that Pokemon Sleep could be adding trading. The ability to swap your Pokemon for those hard-to-get ingredient finders and skills masters could be a big game-changer.
In the patent, Pokemon Sleep outlines several features that seem to point to trading in the sleep tracking game. From the looks of it, sleeping would help you earn trading points to be able to participate in the trading function. But that’s not the exciting part.
From the looks of it, trading would work a lot like the new wishlist feature in Pokemon TCG Pocket. Players would be able to select a Pokemon before going to sleep, offering it for a trade that would happen automatically during the night. If you get a Pokemon in a trade, it could also be more likely to appear in future research. That would be a great way to get ahold of tricky catches like Dedenne or Legendary Pokemon (provided they are included in trades).
Automated trades wouldn’t increase players’ ability to interact with each other while actively playing. But it would add another layer to gameplay that can feel a bit stale. Seeing which Pokemon arrive in your trades and doing the prep required to set things up could be a game-changer. Not to mention, it would help with the frustration of not being able to find rare Pokemon, if indeed trading helps boost appearance rates.
At the end of the day, Pokemon Sleep simply needs more for players to do. And adding trades would make it feel more like a Pokemon game, since trading is a common feature in most of the franchise. If this rumored feature does come to pass, it’s also an incentive to encourage your friends to play. More players means more opportunities to trade, which is a win-win for everyone. “Play this game with me so we can both get like 2 extra candies a day” just doesn’t have the same ring to it by comparison.
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Image Courtesy of DC Comics -
Image Courtesy of Marvel Studios
