Pikmin 4

is a real-time strategy and puzzle video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, and published by Nintendo. The games focus on directing a horde of plant-like creatures called Pikmin to collect items by destroying obstacles, avoiding hazards, and fighting fauna that are hazardous to both the player character and the Pikmin. The Pikmin series features four main entries, as well as two spin-offs. The first two, Pikmin (2001) and Pikmin 2 (2004), were released for the GameCube and later ported to the Wii as New Play Control! titles in 2008 and 2009. Pikmin 2 was re-released in the Nintendo Selects series in 2012. Both titles were remastered for the Nintendo Switch in 2023 as Pikmin 1+2. A third installment, Pikmin 3, was released for the Wii U in 2013. An enhanced port of Pikmin 3 for the Nintendo Switch, Pikmin 3 Deluxe, was released in 2020. The series' first handheld game, Hey! Pikmin, was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. Pikmin 4 was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2023. Pikmin Bloom, the series' mobile spin-off, was released for iOS and Android in 2021. Gameplay The series' gameplay combines elements of action platformer with puzzle and strategy gameplay. The Pikmin games focus on exploring an Earth-like planet named PNF-404, and controlling a crowd of the titular Pikmin. Pikmin are intelligent, loyal, multicolored, plant-animal hybrids that follow the orders of their leader. There have been multiple leaders throughout the series, with the first and most notable being Captain Olimar, a tiny alien from the planet Hocotate introduced in the original Pikmin. Pikmin 2 features Louie and The President, Olimar's co-worker and boss, respectively, who are also playable leaders. Pikmin 3 features leaders from a new alien species. The leaders are Alph, Brittany, and Charlie, who come from the planet Koppai and are similar to the Hocotatians. Pikmin 4 features a customizable character who is part of an interplanetary rescue team, assisted by Oatchi, a space dog with exclusive abilities.