A LEGO Pokémon Game Could Incorporate Top Features from a Beloved Mod

The Pokémon series, despite being a colossal presence in the entertainment industry, has surprisingly never had its own official LEGO set. But that’s all set to change soon. Just last month, The LEGO Group announced a collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to bring out a new range of LEGO sets inspired by the beloved franchise, slated to start hitting the shelves in 2026. This exciting partnership is planned to span several years. While a glimpse of a LEGO Pikachu model was teased in the Pokémon collaboration trailer, the full extent of this collaboration remains somewhat of a mystery.

With the Pokémon series finally entering the LEGO world, there’s speculation about whether The LEGO Group might join forces with The Pokémon Company and Nintendo to create a LEGO Pokémon video game. Not every popular franchise that gets its own LEGO set gets adapted into a video game (think of Sonic the Hedgehog and Minecraft), yet the notion now seems a tad more conceivable. If they ever decide to work on a LEGO Pokémon game, drawing a bit of inspiration from the fan-created mod, Cobblemon, might be worth considering.

Cobblemon might not be a familiar name for the average gamer, but if you’ve been active in the Minecraft modding scene in recent years, you might have come across it. Essentially, Cobblemon is an open-source mod for Minecraft that introduces charming, blocky versions of Pokémon into the game’s sandbox world. It follows in the footsteps of the now-retired Pixelmon mod, which faced a shutdown by The Pokémon Company back in 2017. Despite being relatively new, Cobblemon is packed with content.

Cobblemon features over 700 Pokémon that players can catch. Like in traditional Pokémon games, you can send your Pokémon into battles, including face-offs against other players’ collections. Its combat mechanics harness the Pokémon Showdown! engine, striving to echo the official games as closely as possible. Plus, it integrates gameplay elements reminiscent of Legends: Arceus, like move relearning and optional evolution. On top of that, Cobblemon also brings fresh structures to Minecraft’s world, often packed with glittering chests full of treasures.

Though unofficial, Cobblemon serves as an excellent blueprint for what a LEGO Pokémon game might look like. It emits a LEGO-esque vibe, fitting right into Minecraft’s visual style, and offers features of capturing and battling that are hallmark to the Pokémon series. Furthermore, much like LEGO’s ethos, Cobblemon encourages creativity by letting players design custom Pokémon with data packs. While Minecraft alone already shares similarities with LEGO, Cobblemon transforms it into an almost perfect model for a LEGO Pokémon video game.

However, one potential hurdle could be Nintendo’s approach toward such a concept. Historically, Nintendo has shown reluctance to create video games based on properties not their own. This hesitation might explain why household names like Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and Animal Crossing, despite having LEGO sets, haven’t transitioned into LEGO video games. Considering the massive popularity of both LEGO and Pokémon, a LEGO Pokémon game would undoubtedly fly off the shelves, so let’s hope Nintendo and The LEGO Group eventually join forces to bring this dream to life.