Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Pokémon Smile uses AR to teach kids to brush their teeth

Don Reisinger
By

The Pokémon Company was busy on Wednesday. After unveiling a new Pokémon Snap game, the developer said it is also working on two new titles to help children brush their teeth and solve puzzles.

Recommended Videos

Pokemon Smile

Pokémon Smile is a new, free app available now in Apple’s App Store and the Google Play marketplace that aims at improving a child’s tooth-brushing activity. It uses an iPhone or Android device’s camera to analyze how the player is brushing their teeth and displays “bacteria” over their faces. As they continue to brush, they’ll kill the bacteria and save Pokémon.

Related

Pokémon Smile will feature more than 100 Pokémon to rescue and children can collect Pokémon Caps the more they brush. The app will also let parents set reminders and timers, so kids will know when to brush their teeth and for how long. It also features advice on how to effectively brush teeth.

This isn’t the first time that The Pokémon Company has tried to use its characters to play a role in child health. Last year, the company unveiled Pokémon Sleep, an app that allowed parents to track a child’s sleep.

Pokémon Cafe Mix

The Pokémon Company also announced a new free-to-play video game called Pokémon Cafe Mix for both the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. The game, which will be available on June 23, will launch on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play, in addition to the Switch.

Pokémon Cafe Mix is a puzzle game that requires players to link Pokémon icons by swirling them around, with the ultimate goal of solving puzzles. The story centers on players in the role of a café owner where Pokémon come to visit. Completing puzzles will allow players to serve food and drinks to the Pokémon.

The company said there would be a level-up system, where players can improve their friendships with different Pokémon as they serve food and drinks. They’ll also be able to upgrade the café with new tools to attract more Pokémon to the facility.

The game will be available as a free download, but it’s unclear whether there will be in-app purchases to boost a player’s café, buy tools, or other items.

Both Pokémon Smile and Pokémon Cafe Mix were unveiled alongside a new Pokémon Snap on Wednesday. That game, which will be available on the Nintendo Switch, has yet to get a release date.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger is a freelance technology, video game, and entertainment journalist. He has been writing about the world of…
TopSpin 2K25 serves up a fun, but safe tennis simulation revival
Serena Williams plays Tennis in TopSpin 2K25.

The first video game console I ever owned was an original Xbox that came bundled with two games: NCAA Football 2005 and Top Spin. My appreciation for both Madden and tennis games can be traced back to those being two of my first-ever console gaming experiences.

That’s why I was very excited to hear that Mafia 3 developer Hanger 13 and publisher 2K were bringing the Top Spin tennis series back with TopSpin 2K25 after a 13-year dormancy. Unfortunately, I'm disappointed with how underwhelming the overall product is. Even though it’s the series’ grand return after over a decade, it feels like an extremely iterative sequel to Top Spin 4. It’s certainly approachable, thanks to great tutorials and new meter systems to help players learn proper timing, but TopSpin 2K25's light content offering doesn't make for the strongest opening serve.
Top Spin returns
Developer Hanger 13 hasn’t been coy about the fact that it used 2011's Top Spin 4 as the base to build TopSpin 2K25. Top Spin 4 is a fantastic tennis game that people still play to this day, as it perfected the series’ timing-based gameplay. This isn’t like Mario Tennis Aces, where a special ability can shoot you across the court and hit timing doesn’t matter. TopSpin 2K25 is a true simulation, so learning proper positioning on the court, when to release a button to swing your racket, and how to aim your shot properly are all critical to success.

Read more
Embracer Group is splitting into 3 companies. Here’s who owns what
Rise of the Tomb Raider

Embracer, the embattled gaming company that went through a massive restructuring over the past year, just announced that it will split up into three different companies: Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.

If you need a refresher, Embracer Group gained a reputation for acquiring gaming IPs and studios, including everything from Borderlands' Gearbox Entertainment to Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics to The Lord of the Rings' rights holder Middle-earth Enterprises. It functioned as one massive company separated into several operating groups. After a deal with Saudi Arabia's Savvy Group fell through last year, Embracer went through a massive period of "restructuring" where it laid thousands of developers off, shut down studios, and sold the likes of Saber Interactive and Gearbox. Now, it seems the saga of Embracer Group is nearing its end, as the company admitted in a press release "that the current Group structure does not create optimal conditions for future value creation both for Embracer Group’s shareholders and other stakeholders."

Read more
Hades 2: release date prediction, trailers, gameplay, and more
Melinoe standing in a stone circle.

Just like Zagreus' never-ending quest to escape the Underworld in Greek mythology, it seems we too are destined to continue fighting through new levels of demons and monsters in the sequel to the amazing roguelike Hades. We're not complaining, as that game was one of the best games released in 2020, and no one expected a sequel at all, let alone one announced so soon. Hades 2 will be the first sequel studio Supergiant Games have ever made, and it makes sense given how successful and popular the first game ended up being. Aside from some notable exceptions like Rogue Legacy 2 and Spelunky 2, not many roguelikes ever get a direct sequel, so there's a lot of mystery surrounding how Hades 2 will be different from the first game. But there's no need to dive into the depths of the Underworld yourself in search of answers, as we've pulled all the information we could from the jaws of Cerberus.
Release date

Hades 2 has no release date quite yet. However, the team has apparently been working on it since early 2021, and, just like the first, will come out first in early access. Supergiant has stated that details about this early access period would be revealed in 2023, however, that does not guarantee it will actually begin in 2023. The first Hades was in early access for almost two years, but we know that a slightly bigger team is working on Hades 2 from the start so this game may hit 1.0 a bit faster.
Platforms

Read more