Pokemon Go managed to generate over $1 billion in revenue in its first seven months on mobile app stores. So it will come as no surprise to anyone that we're getting more Pokemon mobile games (we've already had Pokemon Duel this year, don't forget). Only this time, the focus seems to be on the most useless of Pokemon there is.
Very little is known about this new game beyond a teaser website that has appeared. There we get to see an image depicting the outline of two Magikarp Pokemon in the ground alongside a "Coming Soon" sign listing Android and iOS availability.
The game is called Splash! Magikarp and is being created by Japanese developer Select Button. According to Rice Digital, the text on the Japanese teaser website describes how a 27-year-old fisherman "uncovered two mysterious holes in the shape of Magikarps."
Anyone unfamiliar with Magikarp has probably guessed it's a Fish Pokemon and does hold the designation of most useless Pokemon until, of course, it evolves in a Gyarados. Magikarp first appeared in Pokemon Red and Blue, and now it looks as though The Pokemon Company is going to make it the star of its own game.
We can guess as to what type of game Splash! Magikarp is based on Select Button's other mobile game already available on Android and iOS. It's called Survive! Mola mola! and it tasks you with looking after and growing a Mola Mola (Sunfish). Think underwater Tamagotchi and you're on the right track.
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With that in mind, I'd hazard a guess that Splash! Magikarp is a mobile game all about caring for a Magikarp Pokemon, regularly attending to its needs, and the ultimate progression goal being to see it evolve into a Gyarados. Of course, that won't happen until you've spent hundreds of hours playing and likely spent more than the price of 3DS games Pokemon Sun or Pokemon Moon combined in the app.
Pokemon fans may also remember Pokemon Stadium on the Nintendo 64 included a mini-game called Magikarp's Splash. It involved jumping a Magikarp and hitting a counter at the top of the screen as many times as possible. It seems far too simple to form the gamplay of Spash! Magikarp, but it may appear as a mini-game within it.