While we're not entirely sure how we feel about the prospect of Nintendo going free to play with some of it's more recent releases, we can't really grumble too much about free games. Although we're adamant we're not going to buy any premium currencies for any of them, as a little ten minute distraction, Pokemon Shuffle does it's job. And ten minutes is about all you'll have too, with the rather conservative number of levels you can play before you have to wait for your lives to recharge. It sucks, because we'd have happily paid for an unlimited version - instead we mostly kill time on the superior Pokemon Link: Battle, a similar kind of match three game, where you shuffle Pokemon icons around a grid to make matches and battle with wild Pokemon, but one that isn't hindered by microtransations.
I heard you like Mudkipz...
Ranting aside, to celebrate the fact a free Pokemon game has been downloaded four million times - which is surely no mean feat for a console that's sold in excess of 52 million - Nintendo are running a special in-game event for the next few weeks where Pokemon Shufflers can catch themselves the cutesy grass hedgehog, Shaymin. Appearing between now and the 15th June, a special '4 Million Celebration' stage will be playable, with the goal being to capture the elusive Shaymin in 22 moves or less. Completing the stage will earn you 1000 gold coins, and, outside of the Shaymin stage, all players will be able to nab themselves a free Complexity -1 item, which, as the name suggests, simplifies levels by preventing annoying junk blocks from cluttering up your grid, making it much easier to complete them and capture the 'mon in question.
In order to be in for a chance of catching the elusive Shaymin, you'll have to make sure your game is the most up to date version going - version 1.2.1. To do this, you simply need to launch the game via the 'Open' button on the 3DS Touch Screen and choose to update it from the little menu that pops up - when we tried simply clicking on the Pokemon Shuffle icon on our Home Menu, we ended up with crashes galore, so the former method seems to be the safest bet. Once downloaded and updated, launch the game, and from the map screen simply click on the 'Check In' option in the lower left corner to download the extra data (appears once you complete level 11) and get your goodies!
We do wonder how many of the four million downloads are still playing...
So religious Pokemon Shufflers and occasional dabblers alike - boot up your games and get matching to catch that Shaymin, before it disappears into the ether on the 15th June!
