5 things you need to know to get started in Pokemon Quest

After Pokemon Quest snuck out on Nintendo Switch, we had to wait a surprisingly short amoung of time before getting it on iOS and Android. I mean, we knew it was coming, but you'd never know if we'd only be waiting a month or six to get our hands on the game.

If you're looking for a full RPG you won't find it here, sorry chaps. This one's a free to play title that's not quite the style of Pokemon you'd recognise. It may have all of the fan-favourites from Red and Blue, but they're – er – blockier, so there are a few new things to learn.

Not to worry, though! Here's a handy ol' guide to walk you through the basics so you can command an epic team and collect all of the delicious, shiny loot.

Baby steps

As I said, Pokemon Quest isn't quite the conventional experience this time around. Everything comes in cube form and though it's still adorable, it's a little bit more Minecraft-like… except without the building.

Rather than capturing wild Pokemon, it's your cooking skills that'll be the main draw for new friends here. You need a good, balanced team to tackle Tumblecube Island efficiently.

Once you've fist-bumped your crew and lead them off to fight you can sit back, relax, and watch them jump into battle after battle, or you can control their actions yourself.

If your battle skills aren't quite enough to rake in loot and Tickets (the in-game currency), you can also keep an eye on the available quests. You'll be rewarded for your efforts as you complete them, so it's always worth checking in on.

Choosing wisely

Oddly enough, choosing your starter Pokemon is a pretty important decision. With Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Pikachu, and Eevee on offer it's also a bit of a tough one if you like all of them.

Think of it this way though – each of these adorable creatures has their own stats. If you want to go on the offensive you should stick with Pikachu or Charmander. If you're after a more defensive strategy, Bulbasaur is your best bet. If you want a little of both, pick either Eevee or Squirtle.

Though Type-related weaknesses aren't much of a thing in Pokemon Quest, it is important to pick the one that's best for you. For example, Charmander doesn't have much of a defence, but its Fire Type is harder to come by.

Fight club

Your Pokemon team will skitter about in each level, you don't have any control over that, but you do get a say in how things are fought when wild Pokemon pop up.

If you don't so much fancy controlling the party you can stick the game on auto mode and watch how things play out like a sort of fantastical fever-dream. This is a great option for those of you who are more idle-style gamers.

Getting more hands-on with the game, however, won't exactly have you sweating. Your Pokemon have one or two signature moves that you can use, each of which have cooldown periods. Different moves perform differently, varying from close-range to more spaced-out attacks. This is where your strategy comes in.

Truthfully, in most cases you really should bypass auto-attack and control this pain train yourself.

Of course, if you're not too thrilled with the moves your fave Pokemon has going for them you can always stick them into Training to learn something new. Bear in mind that in doing so you'll say goodbye to one or more of your Pokemon pals by trading them off and even then there's no guarantee if anything comes of it.

Ooo Pokemon friend

Even when you've got your first three Pokemon, there's always room for more. To get more beasties on your side of the fight you have to lure them with something we can all relate to – a delicious meal.

As you go about Tumblecube Island, some of the things you'll pick up are ingredients. Once you've got enough you can chuck a bunch of different things in your pot at base camp and go and battle more things until it's done. This'll take between two and six ventures, or you can just bypass the wait time with Tickets.

With ten ingredients to pick up there are a ton of different dishes you can throw together. The types of Pokemon that come running when supper's up depend on what you've put in the pot, so have a play around with whatever you've gathered.

Better, faster, stronger

You might find the difficulty curve a little steep once you've completed the first land's final boss. Lucky you, the game gives you fair warning before you head off to your next fight that you either are or aren't a reasonable level.

The main way to make sure your team doesn't get their butts handed to them is by collecting and equipping Power Stones. These Stones increase your Pokemon's HP or attack strength, especially depending on their Type. Defence-based Pokemon will have more sockets for HP, while offence-based Pokemon will have more sockets for attack strength.

You'll get plenty of these as you play, but you can't keep everything you get. Unwanted Stones can be exchanged for ingredients, or you can pay for more space with Tickets if you're keen to hang onto them.