How a LEGO Pokémon Game Could Incorporate Top Features from a Popular Mod

It’s almost hard to believe that despite Pokémon being the titan of entertainment that it is, it has yet to receive its own official LEGO set. But fans won’t have to wait much longer. Just last month, LEGO announced an exciting partnership with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to roll out a LEGO Pokémon line, slated to kick off in 2026. This collaboration promises to stick around for several years. While the teaser trailer gave us a peek at a LEGO Pikachu, the full scale and scope of this project remain a bit of a mystery.

With Pokémon finally stepping into the world of LEGO, it sparks the imagination about what else might be in store. Could The LEGO Group and Nintendo team up with The Pokémon Company to create a LEGO Pokémon video game one day? While not every pop culture entity with a LEGO set sees game life—think Sonic the Hedgehog or Minecraft—the prospects are definitely intriguing. Should they decide to venture down this path, taking inspiration from the fan-made mod Cobblemon could add a unique spin.

Cobblemon, though possibly unfamiliar to the casual gamer, rings familiar to those embedded in the Minecraft modding scene. It’s essentially an open-source mod that’s brought the Pokémon world to the blocky domain of Minecraft. It follows in the footsteps of Pixelmon, a cherished mod that was shut down by The Pokémon Company in 2017. Despite its relatively recent entry, Cobblemon is already brimming with content, featuring over 700 Pokémon you can capture. Staying true to the core gameplay, players can send their Pokémon into battles, drawing from the Pokémon Showdown! engine. It even spices things up with some Legends: Arceus mechanics, like move relearning and the choice of evolving Pokémon. Plus, it introduces new structures with treasure-laden gilded chests that blend seamlessly with Minecraft’s universe.

Although Cobblemon isn’t an official Pokémon product, its vibe is the closest you can get to a LEGO Pokémon game at the moment. Its LEGO-like charm complements a similar creative spirit that both Minecraft and LEGO share. The mod permits players to innovate, adding custom designs with data packs. The marriage of Minecraft’s and Cobblemon’s styles forms an ideal blueprint for what a LEGO Pokémon game could be.

The stumbling block, however, lies with Nintendo’s apparent disinclination toward developing video games that incorporate other company properties. This hesitance could be why we haven’t seen LEGO video game versions of Nintendo classics like Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, or Animal Crossing, all of which have their LEGO sets. Nevertheless, given the massive appeal of both Pokémon and LEGO, a video game melding these giants would likely be a runaway success. Here’s hoping Nintendo and LEGO explore this promising avenue.