Pokemon Unite

Intense overall intensity
Highest flag: Spending — real-money purchases
FantasyStrategy

What's in it

Spending real-money purchases
High

Real-money currency (Aeos Gems) buys cosmetic Holowear outfits, a paid Battle Pass, and item-enhancement materials.

Spending pressure pay-to-win or energy gating
High

Held-item upgrades that boost combat stats can be accelerated with purchasable enhancers, and time-limited events and daily/Battle Pass rewards encourage regular spending.

Violence cartoon/stylized
Low

Cartoon team battles in which Pokémon use moves to 'knock out' wild and opposing Pokémon; opponents faint and vanish with no blood, injury, or gore.

Who can reach your kid

Stranger friend requestsReal-money spending

What it is

Pokemon Unite is a free-to-play team-battle game where two teams of five players each control a Pokemon and compete to defeat wild Pokemon and opposing players in order to score points at goal zones within a ten-minute match. Combat is stylized and bloodless: Pokemon use special moves and defeated Pokemon simply faint and return to the field. The game is built around an in-app store selling cosmetic outfits and stat-boosting held items with a paid currency, and it includes a random-reward system for cosmetics. Communication with other players is limited to preset phrases and stickers, with no open text or voice chat.

How it's framed

The game presents its combat as friendly competitive sport between Pokemon and their trainers, with no realistic harm or consequence shown. Its commercial systems are foregrounded through frequent store prompts, event timers, battle passes, and purchasable upgrades that can speed a player's competitive progress.

Details

Developer
TiMi Studio Group
Publisher
The Pokémon Company
Released
2021
Metacritic 74critic score (third-party) · out of 100

Similar games

We built this because we needed it

Balanced Play pools your kids' game time into one budget across Steam, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and more. We're taking 100 founding families — free for life.

Claim a founding spot →

Free for life for the first 100. No card, no spam.