Announced during the Pokémon Presents of July 22, 2025 and released the same day, Pokémon Friends is a puzzle game for Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and mobile. You solve puzzles to earn balls of yarn, which are turned into Pokémon plushies to collect and display in your room. A little daily treat, cute and well designed.
Puzzles for everyone
More than forty types of puzzles, and about 1,200 at launch: connecting light bulbs in a single line with Pikachu, pushing boulders with Makuhita, counting Froakie, lighting corridors without waking Gengar… Each series chains three, with a difficulty that adapts. It’s varied, quick and clever. See the puzzles.
Plushies to collect
The balls of yarn you earn go into the plushie maker, which draws a random plushie according to the yarn type. You file them in a catalog, display them in your Plush Room and give them to the residents of Thinkville, who hand out furniture in return. See yarn and plushies.
Free to start
On mobile, the game starts for free but limits daily untangling; the Base Pack, built into the Switch version, removes that limit. Extra packs, Puzzle On!, add puzzles, plushies and decor. The plushie maker’s randomness can be annoying, but updates have softened it.
Our verdict
A gentle, polished puzzle game, perfect for a few minutes a day, as long as you like collecting.
What we like
- Varied, well-designed puzzles
- An adorable plushie collection
- Difficulty that adapts
- Ideal for short sessions
What we like less
- Random draws for plushies
- A limited free version
- Little at stake in the long run
