New Pokemon Themed Mobile Game Announced for Japan

Pokemon is getting a virtual board game. The Pokemon Company released a brief trailer for Pokemon Comaster, a new mobile game developed in conjunction with HEROZ, a mobile game company best known for its mobile chess games. Comaster will allow players to collect virtual Pokemon "figures" in order to build a team and defeat other players in a virtual board game. There will also be a degree of strategy to the game, as individual figures have different strengths and skills. Pokemon Comaster will be free-to-play, with likely in app purchases available to increase the gaming experience.

Pokemon Comaster will be the second Pokemon themed mobile game to be released in the last year. Pokemon Shuffle was released for iOS and Android in late summer 2016. The Pokemon Company also recently released a Photo Booth app, which allows users to add Pokemon-themed captions reminiscent of the original Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow Game Boy games.

The Pokemon Company has plans for at least one other major mobile app to celebrate Pokemon's 20th anniversary. The highly anticipated Pokemon GO, which will allow players to "catch" Pokemon in the real world via a mobile app and a specially designed device, is currently in closed beta testing in Japan. No release date has been announced for Pokemon GO, but it's expected the game will be released sometime in 2016 as part of the game franchise's big anniversary celebrations.