12 Best Nintendo 3DS Pokémon Games

Pokémon Art Academy is a drawing course where the subject is always a Pokémon. It came out in 2014 as both a boxed game and a download from the Nintendo eShop. It was the first 3DS title with built-in Miiverse support for sharing artwork, so other players could see your finished Pikachu the same day you drew it.

It is the gentlest game on this list, and the only one where nothing gets caught. Players who like to draw keep pointing to it as a relaxing pick for the 3DS. You will not become a painter. You will get very good at Pikachu's ears.

Rumble Blast was the first Pokémon game made only for the 3DS. It is a successor to the 2009 WiiWare release Pokémon Rumble, and it came out in North America on October 24, 2011. Your Toy Pokémon face dozens of Pokémon at once in real-time battles, and giant Boss Pokémon wait at the end of stages. There are more than 600 different Toy Pokémon to collect.

Critics were hard on it. One review said the package "really should have been a 3DSWare title rather than a full release." Players admit the Rumble games get dismissed, but the ones who played this one still want more of it. It is a simple game that knows exactly what it is.

Detective Pikachu is an adventure game developed by Creatures Inc., and it plays nothing like the main series. You work with a talking Pikachu to solve mysteries, searching each scene for clues and questioning people and Pokémon. The decision to include voice acting was made by Junichi Masuda, who wanted to have a talking Pikachu.

A shorter download version came out in Japan in February 2016, and the full game reached the rest of the world in March 2018. A live-action film adaptation followed in May 2019, and a sequel, Detective Pikachu Returns, came to the Nintendo Switch on October 6, 2023. On the 3DS it is a slow, friendly mystery story. The talking Pikachu does a lot of the work.

Rumble World is the fourth game in the Pokémon Rumble series, with toy versions of Pokémon from the first six generations. It came out worldwide as a free-to-start download on the Nintendo eShop on April 8, 2015. A boxed version followed in North America in April 2016, and that retail release removed all freemium elements and gave you all the unlockable content from the start.

Critics were mixed on the gameplay but praised the free-to-play model. It ranks two places above Rumble Blast here, even though some fans of the older game will argue the point loudly. If you want the toy battles without the paid currency, the boxed copy is the one to look for.

Pokémon Picross was first planned as a 2000 release for the Game Boy Color, then cancelled for unknown reasons. Fifteen years later it was revived and announced in a Nintendo Direct. It came out as a download on the Nintendo 3DS eShop worldwide in December 2015. The twist is that every finished puzzle rewards you with a Pokémon based on the picture you just uncovered.

Critics gave it "generally favorable" reviews, praising the gameplay but criticizing the free-to-play mechanics. It is a puzzle game first and a Pokémon game second, and that order works. A grid of numbers slowly turning into a Bulbasaur is very satisfying. It is a good one to keep on the system for five minutes at a time.

Super Mystery Dungeon is a roguelike, a game where the dungeon changes every time you go in. You play a human who wakes up as a Pokémon in a world with no humans in it, and you travel through random-generated dungeons completing missions. It came out in North America on November 20, 2015, and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated it for Handheld Game of the Year.

Fans of the spin-off series put it near the top of their own 3DS lists, sometimes above the main games. Some still prefer the older DS Mystery Dungeon games. It is a long game, and the story is sweeter than you would expect from a dungeon crawler.

Pokémon Shuffle is a match puzzle game. Each stage gives you a limited number of moves and no time limit, and you have to reduce the HP of the wild Pokémon you face to zero within those moves. When one of your Pokémon Mega Evolves, it can clear out a whole heap of Pokémon at once. As of July 2017, it had been downloaded 6.5 million times.

One review criticized the Hearts system, which needs 30 minutes for a single heart to come back, but praised the strategy. Players admit it plays like a phone game, and they sank huge amounts of time into it anyway. It is the 3DS game you open on the bus and close at your stop.

Gates to Infinity took the Mystery Dungeon series into 3D. It is a world where Pokémon speak, and you become a Pokémon yourself. You meet all kinds of Pokémon in the towns you visit and the Mystery Dungeons you explore. The game received mixed reviews from critics.

Players are kinder than the reviews were, and fans keep recommending the Mystery Dungeon games by name. This one ranks two places above its sequel here. If you like a slow crawl through rooms full of monsters, with a story that takes itself seriously, it is an easy recommendation. And yes, you get to be a Pokémon, which is the whole dream of being nine years old.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are enhanced versions of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, released worldwide on 17 November 2017. They count as one entry here. The games are set in the Alola Region, which is based on Hawaii. New forms reminiscent of the Legendary Pokémon Solgaleo, Lunala and Necrozma are at the centre of the story.

Critics praised the additional features over Sun and Moon, although some criticized it for being too similar for a majority of the story. In the post-game you meet Team Rainbow Rocket, a group based on Team Rocket from Red, Blue and Yellow. Some players put the Ultra games at the top of their personal 3DS lists. If you already own Sun, this one is a harder sell.

Sun and Moon are the first games in the seventh generation of the series. They came out worldwide on 18 November 2016, for the franchise's 20th anniversary. The Alola Region was heavily inspired by Hawaii, with Game Freak staff visiting the islands to research the games. They were also the first Pokémon games to let players choose from nine languages.

Critics welcomed the change from the formula used by prior Pokémon games and praised the gameplay. Upon release, the games became some of the fastest-selling games in Nintendo's history at that point. On players' own 3DS lists it keeps turning up right next to Fire Emblem, which tells you who it won over.

Satoru Iwata announced Pokémon X and Pokémon Y in a Nintendo Direct in January 2013, and in October 2013 they became the first Pokémon games to have a simultaneous global release. The Kalos Region was heavily inspired by France, with Lumiose City standing in for Paris and the Prism Tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower. New Sky Battles are mid-air trainer battles that only airborne Pokémon can take part in.

Critics praised the visuals and the transition to 3D models, though the story drew criticism. It sold four million copies worldwide in the first weekend, making X and Y the fastest-selling games on the 3DS. Players still call it a staple and a fine place to start.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are part of the sixth generation of the series, developed by Game Freak. They came out in Japan, North America and Australia on 21 November 2014, exactly twelve years after the original release date of Ruby and Sapphire. In Omega Ruby you battle Team Magma, who want to grow the land with the Legendary Pokémon Groudon, while Alpha Sapphire swaps in Team Aqua and Kyogre.

The games received generally positive reviews. One critic was critical of the over-abundance of HMs and the reliance on water-based routes, a complaint anyone who has surfed those routes will recognise. The games sold 3,040,000 copies in their first three days, and players rank it above every other 3DS Pokémon game. Its fans have save files running to hundreds of hours. One player summed it up: the game "doesn't hold your hand the whole time."