There’s Pikmin all up in your kitchen (and bathroom, and living room) thanks to Nintendo’s new AR experience, Pikmin Finder.
We’re used to seeing Pikmin in everyday situations – traversing grassy lawns, lifting up rocks to use as bridges to cross streams – but what if they started appearing in your garden? What if your entire house was infested with the wide-eyed animal-vegetable hybrids?
Nintendo’s charming little augmented reality game, Pikmin Finder, gives us an idea of what a Pikmin home infestation might look like (thanks, Eurogamer). Open up the app in your browser by visiting pikmin-finder.nintendo.net on any device with a camera, then move said device around in your immediate environment, and you’ll see Pikmin begin to sprout on nearby surfaces. You can then pick them by swiping up on your screen, then send the little critters off to find bits of treasure for you.
And… that’s essentially it. In the short time I’ve spent with Pikmin Finder so far, I’ve plucked a handful of red Pikmin from my kitchen worktop and watched them scamper off and come back a few seconds later holding a strawberry. A couple of rock Pikmin found a baseball for me. Some blue Pikmin disappeared into the garden and re-emerged a short while later proudly holding a rubber duck.
It’s simple yet thoroughly disarming – so much so that it’s easy to forgive the app when the illusion’s broken and your Pikmin run around in mid-air or charge through a wall. Ultimately, it’s all just a bit of fun.
The lingering question we have is about the timing; Pikmin Finder should surely have emerged in July, back when Pikmin 4 had just sprouted. By now, the video game conversation has well and truly moved on to things like Starfield and the ongoing sauciness in Baldur’s Gate 3, and Nintendo seems to have opted to launch its AR experience with almost no fanfare at all.
If you’ve a longstanding affection for Nintendo’s humanoid radish-type-things, though, Pikmin Finder is well worth a few minutes of your time – if only to experience the thrill of watching a Pikmin emerge from your loo, Ghoulies style.
