Pokemon Art Academy ポケモン アートアカデミー ![]() |
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General information | |
Platform | Nintendo 3DS |
Developed by | Headstrong Games |
Published by | Nintendo |
Players |
Single Player |
Generation | Generation VI |
Release dates | |
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July 5th, 2014 |
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July 4th, 2014 |
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June 19th, 2014 |
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October 24th, 2014 |

Alongside the drawing lessons, the game showcases few additional fun features such as the Free Paint Mode and the Miiverse Functionality.
Gameplay and Features
In this Educational Drawing game, the player will join the Pokémon Art Academy, aiming to become a great Pokémon card painter. There, Andy, the one managing the academy, will take care of the player and teach them all they need to know about drawing. The player will go through many tutorials and lessons which will get harder and harder, every time.Lessons:
The lessons will teach the player the required skills for drawing and give them a lot of tips, on how to do it the right way. The lessons fall under 5 categories : Starter Lessons, Novice Lessons, Apprentice Lessons, Graduate Lessons and Bonus Lessons. Each of these categories has a number of lessons, using a variety of drawing tools. Each of those lessons too, has up to 3 Mini-Lessons or Quick Sketches within them, that aim to restudy the techniques introduced in the main lesson and would unlock the template used in the Free Paint mode, after they're fully completed. After finishing the lessons in a category, the player will have to pass the category test, in order to move to the next one.Starter Lessons : There are three in total, in which the player will learn the very basics. They need to complete one of them to unlock the Novice Lessons.
Novice Lessons : These will also teach the player about more basic drawing techniques and tools:
Novice Lesson 1 : Teaches basic of portrait drawing.
- Mini-Lessons : Tepig / Chespin / Squirtle
- Mini-Lessons : Torchic / Miinccino / Meowth

- Mini-Lessons : Gengar / Pichu / Pachirasu
- Mini-Lessons : Charmander / Victini / Bulbasaur
- Mini-Lessons : Fennekin / Froakie / Chespin
Apprentice Lessons : Deals with a bit more advanced drawing techniques:
Apprentice Lesson 1 : Teaches about shading techniques.
- Mini-Lessons : Pumpkaboo / Chimchar
- Mini-Lessons : Snivy / Eevee
- Mini-Lessons : Chandelure / Lugia
- Mini- Lessons : Braixen / Frogadier / Quilladin
Graduate Lessons : These deal with the advanced and hardest techniques to master:
Graduate Lesson 1 : Teaches about smudge and pastels.
- Mini-Lesson : Sylveon
- Mini-Lesson : Lucario
- Mini-Lesson : Mewtwo
Free Paint Mode:
This mode allows the player to freely draw anything, using all the material they unlocked in the game from templates to images. The player may select an image as a guide or as background, or they might simply continue with the free painting. It is also possible to use images taken by the 3DS' camera.
Shading and finishing Charizard
Miiverse Functionality:
This feature allows the players to connect to a special social network designed for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U users. There the players may share the images they drew with the community, communicate with other community members and joining special contests organized by the Pokémon Company.Academy Card:
Similarly to the main Pokémon game series, where the player has a trainer card, Pokémon Art Academy offers the player an Academy Card which gives details about the number of lessons they've completed. The card will vary in concept and color as the player completes more lessons:- Entry Card: The very first card the player is given, and doesn't require any lesson to be completed.
- Novice Card: Requires the completion of the Starter Lessons.
- Apprentice Card: Requires the completion of the Novice Lessons.
- Graduate Card: Requires the completion of the Apprentice Lessons.
- Ilustration Master Card: Requires the completion of the Graduate Lessons.
- Grand Master Card: requires the completion of all the Lessons and Mini-Lessons available in the game.
Image Album:
This feature functions as a storage for the images the player has completed and saved. The images will be saved on Pokémon trading cards and can be edited within the Free Paint mode, shared to the Miiverse community, saved in higher formats, named or even deleted.Downloadable Content:
The game's Free Paint mode has an option allowing the download of new templates, featuring many new Pokémon. The available templates so far are :- Kyogre
- Groudon
- Rayquaza
- Mega Gengar
- Mismagius and Gourgeist
- Cosplay Pikachu
- Hoopa
Videos
Official TrailerE3 2014 Trailer
Trivia & Facts
- Pokémon Art Academy is the first 3DS game to feature the Miiverse functionality and the first game in the Pokémon series to be developed in the United Kingdom.
- The game is also the first spin-off game for the Art Academy series.
- The "Eight Rules for drawing Pokémon" feature illustrations from the official Pokémon Trading Card Game cards.

The Japanese Logo for Pokemon Art Academy
Sales figures
Within the first three weeks of its release, the game sold nearly 57 thousand copies in Japan, 56 thousand in Europe and around 16 thousand in the USA. The sales increased slowly, reaching a final number of 168 thousand copies sold in Japan, 123 thousand in Europe and approximately, 165 thousand in the USA, with a global number of 0.5 million copies sold around the world.Review scores
The game was quite well received, as it managed to obtain good scores on major review websites. Let's take a look at these scores:- On Metacritic, the game scored 76%, over 22 critics and received a 77% score from the Official Nintendo Magazine.
- Although the GameSpot and IGN executives didn't review the game, most of the fans' reviews gave the game above average scores.

Media & Artwork
Official Artwork Gallery from Pokemon Art AcademyBox Art from Pokemon Art Academy including numerous regional variations + editions
Screenshots from Pokemon Art Academy