“Pokemon Auto Chess” is a fan game that has recently boomed in popularity. Now, the servers are full at multiple times of the day. For good reason too: it puts a fun spin on both the autochess subgenre and the Pokemon IP by mashing them together.
For those who do not know what the autochess subgenre is, it is a puzzle game in which players purchase units and place them on a grid. As the game progresses, players will battle each other with their units, but they do not have any input on how the battle goes, just their layout. The last player alive is the winner, so the game is roughly 80% skill and 20% luck.
To run out a turn in “Pokemon Auto Chess,” players first must look at their shop to see if there are any appealing Pokemon available to purchase. Then, they can either reroll their shop or manage their items. Items will grant buffs to the equipped Pokemon. After that, they get into whatever the round is, whether it is a battle, or an item roulette, or a Pokemon choice.
“Pokemon Auto Chess” has well over half of the Pokedex in it (over 500 Pokemon), and more are being added with
every update. The graphics are inspired by the “Pokemon Mystery Dungeon” series. Community artists make the sprites for more modern Pokemon who might not have appeared officially in that series.
For example, the Ultrabeasts from generation seven are in the game and they are all incredibly strong. In fact, one that sees common usage on dragon-based teams is Guzzlord as a bulky core supporter.
Each Pokemon has up to three different types in “Pokemon Auto Chess,” including new types like human and monster. Types serve a very important purpose in this game, but unlike the official Pokemon series, they do not have strong or weak matchups. In an official Pokemon game, the fire type is strong against grass type and is weak against water type. In this game, fire types burn with attacks, grass types grow berries, and water types fish up new Pokemon.
Each type has a unique ability that makes it useful. The more Pokemon sharing that type on a team, the stronger the ability is. For example, the sound type includes Pokemon like Chatot and Whismur. Every time a sound type Pokemon uses their ability, every Pokemon on the team gains a boost that increases with the more sound type Pokemon are on that team. My favorite type is bug because swarming an opponent is hilarious.
Playing rounds and placing high will give players experience and as they level up they will unlock new features like the
booster packs and jukebox. Players will gain a booster pack containing card shards every time they level up. Players can use card shards to unlock new profile pictures of Pokemon, and mine is currently Emboar from “Pokemon Black and White.” There is even a bot creation kit, which is unlocked after about 20 levels to allow one to make bots to battle against.
If all of this sounds appealing, go give it a try. Their main server is typically overpopulated, but check out their Discord for links to additional servers like Eternara. It should be noted that this game is intended for computers only, so do not attempt to run it on a phone because it will not work. I hope to see you in battle.
