‘Magikarp Jump’ Might Just Be the Weirdest ‘Pokémon’ Game Ever

Samantha Loveridge
Games Pokémon
Games Pokémon

Magikarp Jump, the second mobile game from The Pokémon Company, has finally arrived on App Stores around the world after soft launching quietly in random territories. And it might just be the weirdest Pokémon game ever.

As the name suggests the whole premise is about seeing how high you can make your Magikarp jump – the joke being that Magikarp are notorious for being the weakest and most pathetic Pokémon in the entire line-up of over 700 critters.

But that hasn’t stopped it becoming the star of its very own mobile game.

Magikarp Jump isn’t exactly what you’d call a game. It’s about feeding and developing your fishy friend by letting him chow down on berries, putting him through some training and then competing in competitions to become the very best, the best there ever was.

It basically takes the mick out of the classic Pokémon game tropes. You’re offered a choice of three Old Rods at the start, like the equivalent of your starter Pokémon by a brand new Poké Professor. But strangely enough, you don’t even catch your own Magikarp, that all happens off-screen.

Then it’s up to you to make your way through the Magikarp Leagues, forcing your spluttering Magikarp to jump as high as it possibly can. Again, you don’t actually do any of this, it’s just a cutscene of sorts – although it does have some seriously adorable graphics.

In fact, the most you actually do in Magikarp Jump is idle tapping, collecting the berries that have magically appeared in your fish tank.

Thankfully it’s free to download, with in-app purchases of course, but perhaps it’ll develop in time.

The Pokémon Company’s other mobile game, Pokémon Shuffle, is a riff on the classic match-three mechanics, but making it all about catching Pokémon by attacking when you combine matching critters. It was originally a free 3DS game, but has since made the move to mobile platforms.

Samantha Loveridge
Sam is the UK Gaming Editor at Fandom. She's been addicted to games since she first got her paws on a GameBoy and hasn't looked back.