Four years after its initial announcement, Pokémon Sleep is finally coming to Android in 2023. We finally have more information on what to expect thanks to the Pokémon Direct for February. In the same vein as one of its sister apps, Pokémon Smile, this is a game that you can play while you snooze. It’s as easy as popping your phone next to your pillow and falling asleep. By the time you rise the next morning, there will be new Pokémon and new discoveries to be made!
In Pokémon Sleep, you’ll play as a professor’s assistant and do studies on how Pokémon rest and snooze. On a small island, you’ll be working hard with an enormous Snorlax that inhabits the area along with Professor Neroli, a researcher studying Pokémon sleeping patterns.
The entire game is played while you sleep, and the idea, much like Pokémon Smile, is to help you develop better habits through gameplay. In Pokémon Smile, kids and adults alike are reminded to brush their teeth, and after brushing, they are rewarded by catching Pokémon. The more consecutive days you rack up, the more goals and rewards you get. So, it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility to see that this would work in a similar way. The more you sleep, track, and learn about your sleep cycles, the more you’ll be rewarded for it.
Every night when you go to sleep using the app, you’ll find more and more Pokémon sleeping around your buddy Snorlax. The better you sleep, the more Pokémon will be around your Snorlax. It’s as simple as that! The sleep styles of the Pokémon will fall into one of three categories: snoozing, slumbering, or dozing. The more you play, the more unusual sleeping styles you’ll discover!
With this, the new Pokémon Go Plus + (yes, that is its actual name) has been announced. It will keep a Pikachu inside of it and sing you lullabies in its classic voice. At bedtime, it uses a version of low-energy Bluetooth to track your sleep using the button. This device can also be used alongside Pokémon GO, where you can use the device to catch Pokémon and swipe Pokestops without the need to take out your phone. While it’s been teased that there are further integrations planned between Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon Go, those details have yet to be revealed to the wider public.
In the summer of 2023, Pokémon Sleep is expected to go live in the majority of countries on Android and iOS, while Pokémon GO Plus Plus debuts on 14th of July 2023.