Pikmin Bloom Now Available in US

Pikmin Bloom, the latest collaboration between Pokemon Go maker Niantic and Nintendo, is out now in the US, Canada, and the rest of the Americas. Niantic announced that it would begin rollout of the new game earlier this week, starting with Australia and Singapore. The game has now begun its next phase of release, and will likely get a worldwide release in the coming days. You can check out Niantic's first trailer of the game down below: 

Pikmin Bloom offers a simpler experience that Pokemon Go, with a low-maintenance play loop built around walking with a growing collection of Pikmin. Players gather Pikmin seedlings as they walk, and then watch as they hatch after a certain amount of steps have been taken. As players walk through the neighborhood, their Pikmin leave flower trails that slowly grow, creating shared gardens and creating nectar that can be fed to Pikmin. Instead of gyms or PokeStops, certain landmarks are represented by large flowers that bloom when certain conditions are met. Unlike the core Pikmin games, there are no puzzles to solve or monsters to battle in Pikmin Bloom. Instead, this is a purely recreational experience designed to bring a little more happiness to daily walks. 

Like Pokemon Go, Pikmin Bloom is free to play but comes with some optional microtransactions. Players will always have two slots to grow Pikmin seedlings, but they can buy additional temporary slots for in-game currency. Players can also increase the maximum number of Pikmin they can have in their collection, as well as increase the number of items they can carry, via one-time purchases. 

Niantic has confirmed that it will carry over Community Day events into Pikmin Bloom. More features will likely be added in the future.

This is the first game released under an expanded partnership between Niantic and Nintendo. Niantic is also actively developing an AR game featuring the characters of the Transformers franchise, with the game rolling out in a handful of countries.

Pikmin Bloom is available now as a free-to-play app on the Google Play and Apple App store.