Game of the Week: Pikmin 4 is ready for its close-up

Hello! Our game of the week is Pikmin 4 - how could we pick anything else? Tom gave this genial strategy-puzzler our first 5-star review. I can't wait to play it.

Watching a trailer for Pikmin 4 this morning reminded me of the special thrill that this series offers. Sure, back when the first game came out on the GameCube it was exciting to see Nintendo launching a new franchise, and one that was so clearly differentiated from all its others. And there's a queasy appeal to the way Pikmin games switch from bucolic exploration to horror as your carroty charges are munched up by the local wildlife.

But that's not all of it, I think. When I think back to my first encounters with Pikmin I remember being dazzled by this sense of exotic domesticity, if such a formulation is possible. After years of conjuring wonders of the imagination with Mario and Zelda, here were Nintendo's designers looking very closely at the world around them: tree roots, flower petals, but also bottle caps and old cardboard boxes.