Pokémon Masters Adds New Single-Player Survival Mode

The developers at DeNA have announced some big new additions to the Pokémon Masters mobile game, including a single-player survival mode called Battle Villa. This will be music to the ears of gamers who called for more single-player content at the time of the game’s launch in August last year.

“Battle Villa is a new game mode where every choice matters,” reads the official description from DeNA. “In this new mode, players will battle against AI opponents to see how many total stages they can clear during the two weeks of a Battle Villa being open.” This is a timed event that will test your ability to withstand an onslaught of battles, in a similar style to the Battle Chateau from Pokémon X and Y and other such enjoyable locations from the iconic Pokémon RPG franchise. There are 25 stages to clear, each of which consists of a 3 versus 3 clash of Sync Pairs.

There are a few terms and conditions to be aware of here. As DeNA notes, “While a player’s progress will carry over day to day, players will only be able to battle with a select number of sync pairs each day.” And in order to take part, you have to complete Chapter 7 of the game’s main story first.

You won’t have to wait long to get involved, though, since the first Battle Villa event will be kicking off on February 28, 2020, at 1:00 AM ET. The event will be available until March 16, 2020, at 12:59 AM ET. Further Battle Villa events are being planned for the future, as well.

We were lucky enough to have an early hands-on experience with the Battle Villa, and we’re pleased to report that it does inject a bit more challenge into the game. You can’t fully heal your Sync Pairs between battles, and you can’t revive any creatures that get knocked out, so you’ll have to be tactical about which critters you deploy at which point. You’re able to pick nine Sync Pairs to take into the Battle Villa each day, and if you fail, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to make another attempt.

We’ve also got some screenshots to give you an early impression of what the Battle Villa is like. Here’s an image of the exterior…

Looks pretty swanky, doesn’t it? That air of gravitas is present and correct inside the Battle Villa, too, as you can see in this next image…

And if you’re wondering what the user experience will be like between the battles, this next screenshot should give you an idea. You’ll be trying to work your way through a list of battles, presented like this…

And if you want to know what the battles themselves will look like, here’s a snap of the battle in progress…

The addition of the Battle Villa isn’t the only new thing to get excited about in Pokémon Masters, either. On top of the recent addition of Professor Oak and Mew as a Sync Pair, you’ll now be able to pick up Red and Charizard. Red, if you were wondering, is the official name of the player-controlled protagonist from Pokémon Red andBlue. You’ll be able to get this new Sync Pair through the usual in-game channels, and there will also be an event titled “Poké Fair Scout + Present” taking place between February 28 and March 16 which will increase your chances of picking up Red and Charizard.

Other new additions to the game include a host of evolution options, a story event featuring Elesa and Rotom, and three chapters that are coming to the Main Story. Players that log into the app during this six-month anniversary event for Pokémon Masters will also be able to pick up some free gems as a gift. You’ve got to admire all of this effort to keep the game fresh, right? And if you do take part in the Battle Villa event, good luck to you!