Pikmin finally has its own day on the calendar. In a Pikmin Day Direct over the weekend, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that 1 November is now Pikmin Day. Write the date as 1.11 and you get three little figures in a row, a nod to the original Red, Blue and Yellow Pikmin.
The bigger news for anyone with a Switch 2 is that Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy has a free demo on the eShop right now. You get the Sun-Speckled Terrace opening area plus two Dandori Academy stages, which is plenty to work out whether the upgrade is for you before the full release on 12 November.
What’s new in the Switch 2 Edition
- Voice commands for Oatchi. The Switch 2’s built-in mic picks up nine commands, so yelling “Rush!” at your Rescue Pup now actually does something.
- Dandori Academy. Timed treasure-collecting challenges that reward planning and efficiency, with exams every Friday, Saturday and Sunday that pay out in-game medals.
Pikmin Bloom heads underground
The mobile app is getting a winter update with Secret Caves. You’ll need cave maps, which arrive with postcards, and you can send a whole squad of Pikmin in to explore and fight. If you link Bloom to the Switch 2 game, your Dandori Academy exam results unlock special in-app rewards, including a cave map.
Hello! Pikmin
Nintendo Pictures has started a new series of short films called Hello! Pikmin, made with Miyamoto. The first two episodes are up on the Nintendo Today! app and Nintendo’s other channels, with more on the way.
Japanese actress Fuka Koshiba, known for the crocheted Pikmin hats she posts on Instagram, co-hosted the Direct and is joining Nintendo’s push to bring the series to more players.
All four mainline Pikmin games are now playable on Switch and Switch 2, so if the demo hooks you, there’s a long back catalogue to work through.