iOS (iPhone/iPad) Critic Reviews

Pikmin Bloom is much more of a life companion app than something to feverishly devour as long as your battery permits — it feels like a far 'healthier' experience for body and mind than many free-to-play games, and Niantic accomplishes its goals well. Time will tell whether it has anything like the staying power and pull of Pokémon GO, but where that game can feel like an insurmountable climb if you've put it down for any length of time, with no hope of catching 'em all, Pikmin Bloom is more of an old friend you haven't seen in years but you just pick up where you left off. Fire it up with appropriate expectations, and you'll likely have a blooming good time with it.

Pikmin Bloom isn’t the next Pokemon Go, but it is a cute way to walk more often with Nintendo’s plucky plant-like pals by your side.

Pikmin Bloom is a burst of fun that quickly gets marred by paywall greed. [Issue #59 – May/June 2022, p. 26]

Not quite a proper video game, Pikmin Bloom is a sort of a glorified pedometer that can actually help you go outside and walk in an original way.

Overall, I am very pleased to see the Pikmin series getting more attention and finding a larger audience. The slow and steady, steps-focused progression makes the game the app a great motivator for easy exercise. But Pikmin Bloom is best described as an app that gets you walking more, rather than a hit new game. It has plenty of thoughtful features that will likely have you checking in on it daily, but its various minor flaws leave me a little disappointed that the precious little Pikmin didn’t quite get the app that I think they deserve.

It’s gently whimsical and considerably less mechanically complex than either Pokémon Go or Wizards Unite and while it does offer some encouragement to go out and get some fresh air, it’s almost more pedometer than game, and is all but pointless on a tablet.

Pikmin Bloom is a fine AR experience, but sadly it’s just not a good game. With the volume (and intensity) of bugs, the lack of things to actually do and a poor economy, Bloom's player base feels likely to wither without significant change. However, the game does already have a core group of players who absolutely love it, so watch this space. With enough bug fixes and quality of life improvement, Pikmin Bloom may well blossom into something worth playing.