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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.
