Nintendo has announced a new Pikmin game, but no – it’s not Pikmin 5.
Instead, Japanese Pikmin fans can enjoy Pikmin Counting, a web-based edutainment game where you count from 1 to 100 using Nintendo’s colourful garden characters. (It’s primarily designed for young kids.)
Pikmin Counting is one of several mini-games available on Nintendo’s Japanese website Pikmin Garden, a hub of information on the series with regular news updates of things going on in mobile game Pikmin Bloom, quizzes, and cute Pikmin wallpaper.
Another mini-game available on Pikmin Garden features rhythm-based gameplay, and has you playing Guitar Hero-style falling notes.
After 10 minutes playing Pikmin Counting, I have counted my way to 100 and seen my growing horde of creatures display some of their in-game characteristics – Yellow Pikmin disabling an electric obstacle, Blue Pikmin sorting out a water jet, Ice Pikmin freezing a lake solid.
Rock Pikmin get stomped on by enemies – but it’s okay because they’re sturdy! Even Pikmin 4’s Glowmin show up to help get you over the 100 line.
If you fancy giving it a go, you’ll just need to head to the Pikmin Counting page on a mobile device – and also be signed in to your Nintendo Account.
Pikmin is a really big deal in Japan, where last year’s excellent Pikmin 4 shifted the bulk of its copies. As of March, the game had sold 3.48m copies worldwide, including 1.87m in Japan alone – the most of any in the franchise so far.
“Nintendo’s oft-overlooked garden strategy reaches near-perfect evolution,” I wrote in Eurogamer’s Pikmin 4 review, dubbing it a “a bouquet of fresh gameplay alongside the best bits from the series’ roots”.