Just finished Pokémon: The Unown King and… that was actually really cool

My end card

Went into this expecting a normal short ROM hack and came out feeling like I just played a Pokémon-themed escape room.

The whole game basically takes place in one big ancient ruin, and the main gimmick is that catching Unown actually matters. Like, you literally can’t read half the stuff in the game until you catch the right letters. At first I thought that was kind of annoying, and then I realized it was actually a really smart idea. It makes you pay attention to what you’re catching for once instead of just sweeping everything.

The vibe is super mysterious the whole way through. Lots of cryptic messages, NPCs that clearly know more than they’re saying, and that classic “something bad definitely happened here” energy. The music and setting really sell it.

Gameplay-wise it’s way more about exploring and solving puzzles than battling. There are fights, but this isn’t a “build the perfect team and steamroll gyms” type of hack. It’s more like:

• Wander around
• Get stuck
• Catch a random Unown
• Suddenly everything makes sense
• Five minutes later, you’re lost again

Rinse, repeat.

The only real downside for me is that it’s pretty short, and some of the puzzles are a little too cryptic if you’re tired or just not in a thinking mood. I definitely had a couple “okay, I need to step away and come back to this” moments.

Still, I really liked it. It felt different, which is rare with hacks these days. Not just another Emerald with gyms shuffled around.

Overall I’d give it like an 8/10.
If you like puzzles, lore, and weird experimental hacks, it’s 100% worth playing. If you just want nonstop battles and grinding, this probably isn’t your thing.

Also, I never thought I’d say this, but Unown might be my favorite part of a Pokémon game now. What a timeline.