Game Freak and Omega Force's ambitious open-world offering is bigger than most of us imagined. Like, way bigger. So, we've come up with some handy Pokopia tips and hints to get you going without being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new friends, habitats, blocks, recipes, and furniture items.
Once you've got to grips with the game, we recommend checking out the current Pokopia events, and any Pokopia mystery gift codes you can grab for some free items to decorate your homestead.
Don't bite off more than you can chew
We all want to jump right in and get going, and start a new project, then another one, and build a house here, then something over here… but you need to rein it in. Our biggest tip is to take it slow. Start small - you don't need to terraform the entire island on day one, even if it is tempting with the amount of dry dirt lying around.
Pick up everything
As you wander through each area, make sure you pick up everything. And we mean everything. That stick? Those rocks? You're going to need it all for crafting, quests, building, trading, and more. It's not just natural resources, either.
Sometimes you find things like Pokopia Mysterious Feathers lying around, which will come in handy at a certain time and place, getting you even more cool bits and pieces.
Grab every shiny spot you see
Similar to our last point, make sure you grab every shining item in the water and the shining, breakable blocks. You can find shining blocks on the ground in soil, grass, and sand. They don't spawn in blocks like roads that you place yourself. These hold artifacts, which you give to Professor Tangrowth to appraise. You can also use the Dowsing Machine to find even more cool buried stuff, too.
There are also shining items like tablets, letters, and books - these are human records, and can give you plenty of fun information, or sometimes new Pokopia outfits to equip on your Ditto.
The third kind of shiny thing to keep your eyes peeled for is habitat hints. These have more of a rainbow sheen and tend to appear near natural objects or furniture items. Interacting with them will bring up a new habitat hint for you to create and hopefully lure a Pokémon to move in.
Build habitats
This may sound obvious, but those habitat hints you got? Use them. Make plenty of Pokopia habitats. Why not lay a few flowerbeds and tall grassy plots next to each other, and then have a few of the later-game habitats further down the road?
Making a habitat is how you attract and discover Pokémon, but just because you use it once doesn't mean it's done for - so either move the current Pokémon out into a house, or make another elevated or hydrated flowerbed next to it. Make a whole neighbourhood of habitats on the beach and see who moves in!
Leave your builds until the end of the day
It's boring waiting for your new Pokémon Center to get built, and sad watching a Pokémon shelter from the rain as its new house gets finished. So what we recommend is waiting to start these projects right before you log off, whatever time that may be. If a project will be completed 'tomorrow', you may as well start the proceedings just as you put the game down, instead of roping all your 'mons in to work when you may need them for something else.
You could also just do a little Pokopia time skip, you know, if you really want to get stuff done fast.
Go to Dream Islands
If you're running low on any crafting resources or need some pre-watered grass to put down, you can summon Drifloon and head to a Pokopia Dream Island. Think of them like Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Nook Miles and mystery islands.
This requires you to have a Pokémon doll or two hanging around, and a Drifloon, of course, but these are quite easy to come by. Once you've talked to Drifloon about it, you can interact with a doll and ask it to whisk you away to a Dream Island. You can only visit one per day - but you can go back multiple times - and then pick up whatever you find there.
Make a house in each new area
Right from the start of the game, you have the ability to teleport right to one of your Pokopia houses. This is super handy, as it means you can easily get from A to B without walking for ages. Just remember to actually build and claim a house in each area first, so you can use the teleportation mechanic. Also, it means you've got somewhere to wake up as you enter the game.
Put your storage right next to your crafting bench
One very handy little thing in the game can really help when it comes to doing some Pokopia crafting. If you put a storage chest next to or behind your crafting bench, so it's touching a side of the bench, you can automatically pull items from the chest when using it. That means no more running between chests looking for stones and sticks - it's all right there.
Use honey to lure Pokémon home if you can't find them
Sometimes, you really need someone with the ability to grow crops or water a pile of goop so you can get rid of it. But where the heck is Dartrix when you need it? Out gallivanting, no doubt. Thankfully, there's a way to get them back home ASAP, so you can request their help. Simply approach the Pokémon's home, then open your inventory and select a jar of honey. Once it's in your hand, click 'use' - the creature will come running thanks to the lovely aroma.
You can also use this to get them out of the house if you don't want to go in for whatever reason. For me, it's because I have 60 jars of honey and can't be bothered shuffling in and out of every rocky den.
Cook and eat meals to power up your moves
Ah, Chef Dente, what a wonderful addition to my life in the game. As a chef tends to do, it teaches you how to cook, which is fun in itself, but each meal you eat can power up a specific Pokopia move. This means you can get stronger and move boulders, break more blocks at once, and most importantly, water a bigger area at a time. It pays to keep a sandwich or a salad in your pockets.