Pikmin 3

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Pikmin 3 is a 2013 real-time strategy and puzzle game from Nintendo for the Wii U. It’s the third main game in the Pikmin series, following the original Pikmin games on GameCube. In the story, three captains—Alph, Brittany, and Charlie—crash on a planet called PNF-404 and team up with friendly Pikmin to find food seeds to save their home world, Koppai, from famine.

How you play:
- You command up to three captains and guide Pikmin to explore, fight enemies, build bridges, and collect treasures.
- Pikmin come in different colors with special abilities:
- Red Pikmin resist fire and are strong
- Yellow Pikmin resist electricity and can be thrown farther
- Blue Pikmin swim
- Rock Pikmin can break tough barriers
- Winged Pikmin can fly and cross gaps
- White Pikmin poison enemies
- Purple Pikmin are very strong (these last two mainly appear in side modes)
- You can play with the Wii U GamePad, Pro Controller, or Wii Remote. A 2014 update added stylus controls on the GamePad, and the GamePad also has a KopPad map for planning routes and taking photos.

Modes:
- Story campaign (single-player)
- Bingo Battle (two-player split-screen)
- Mission Mode (solo or co-op) with time-based tasks like Collect Treasure, Battle Enemies, and Defeat Bosses

Story and ending:
- The captains search for food on PNF-404 and must collect enough fruit to save Koppai. The ending changes based on how much fruit you gather, with more fruit unlocking extra story moments.

Deluxe and sequels:
- Pikmin 3 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch came out in 2020, adding new content, co-op for the story, a prologue and epilogue, and all existing DLC from the Wii U version.
- A direct sequel, Pikmin 4, released in 2023. There’s also a spin-off, Hey! Pikmin, from 2017.

Reception and sales:
- Pikmin 3 was praised for its gameplay, graphics, and level design. The Switch Deluxe version performed very well, selling millions of copies worldwide by 2022.

Development notes:
- The game was hinted by Shigeru Miyamoto in 2007, moved to the Wii U in 2011, and shown at E3 in 2012. New Pikmin types and GamePad features were added during development, and some content was released after launch as DLC.