Nintendo finally wises up to Palworld, announces Pokemon crafting and building game Pokopia – starring a Ditto that thinks it's a real human

Pokemon Pokopia blends the best of Stardew Valley and Minecraft in this new cozy game that sees you building a lovely patch of heaven for your Pokemon pals. The twist is, you're a Ditto that's transformed to look like a human.

Revealed today during the Nintendo Direct, Pokemon Pokopia is launching on the Switch 2 next year, 2026. It's basically Pokemon's answer to Palworld.

Unlike most survival and farming games where you need tools to progress, in Pokopia, Ditto can find wild Pokemon and learn their moves to help with construction.

Bulbasaur's Leafage will transform your arms into vines so you can plant grass, and Squirtle's Water Gun has Ditto spitting the wet stuff out of its mouth to keep crops from getting too thirsty.

Scyther's moves help you cut down trees for wood and Hitmonchan's let you punch through rocks for, well, rock. Use these resources to build homes for your 'mons and terraform the landscape around you, just like in Minecraft. Pokopia even has a similarly blocky aesthetic.

The trailer shows a fair few Pokemon, including the fan-favorite Pikachu, its unevolved form Pichu, and a Pidgey. There's also a cute sleepy Swablu, and several other 'mons.

The wild Pokemon still seem to appear from tall grass, so I imagine exploration will play a key role in the upcoming game. Although, the trailer only shows one small patch of land that slowly gets turned into a cute, cozy base.

Check out everything announced at today's Nintendo Direct. We got more information about Pokemon Legends Z-A, too.