Pokémon Playhouse (iOS & Android): rooms, activities & 52 Pokémon


Titles	Pokémon Playhouse Pavillon Pokémon (French store title) · Pokémon-Spielhaus (German store title) No Japanese title (not released in Japan)
Platforms	iOS & iPadOS (App Store: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) · Android (Google Play) · Fire OS (Amazon Appstore, Kindle Fire tablets)
Developer	The Pokémon Company International
Publisher	The Pokémon Company International
Character art	Leah Fuhrman
Voice of Leena	Maya Aoki Tuttle (English)
Players	1
Genre	Preschool pretend-play and early-learning app
Business model	Free, with no adverts and no in-app purchases; collects no personal information
Rooms & activities	Central hub and 4 areas (Playground, Lounge, Playroom, Tower) · 8 activities · 3 picture stories · 5 puzzle scenes
Pokémon	52 to befriend: 6 from the start, 46 hatched from Eggs
Age range	Designed for ages 3 to 5; no reading or maths needed
Released	21 September 2017 (North America, Europe, Australia) · not released in Japan or elsewhere in Asia
Latest version	iOS 1.2 (30 May 2019) · Android 1.2.5 (2 July 2024)
Rating	App Store 4+ (Made for Ages 0–5) · Google Play: Everyone (US)
Predecessor	None
Successor	None
Downloads	5 million+ installs on Google Play (October 2026); no combined figure published

Overview

Pokémon Playhouse is a free app for children aged three to five, made and published by The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) for iPhone and iPad, Android phones and tablets and Amazon’s Kindle Fire. It was announced and released on the same day, 21 September 2017, in North America, Europe and Australia, and TPCi billed it as the first official digital Pokémon experience made for preschoolers. There is no battling, catching or levelling up. Instead a friendly human host, Leena, welcomes the child into a bright cartoon house that Pokémon visit to make new friends, and she says every instruction out loud, so no reading or counting is needed.

Everything happens around a central hub with four areas leading off it. Outside there is a Playground; up one staircase, a Lounge where hungry and grubby Pokémon are fed and groomed; downstairs, a Playroom of picture stories, Pokémon-shaped puzzles and a torch-lit game of hide-and-seek; and up in the Tower, a telescope for joining stars into Pokémon constellations and a stage where the child taps out tunes for a little Pokémon choir. Leena hands over a Pokémon Egg at the start, every finished activity cracks it a little further, and after five it hatches into a new friend. Six Pokémon are friends from the very first session and 46 more arrive from Eggs, 52 in all.

Playhouse is the odd one out in the series. It comes from the Pokémon Sun and Moon era but connects to nothing else, has no online features, no adverts and no in-app purchases, and promises to collect no personal information. Its Pokémon were redrawn with gentler, cuter faces for very young players, and the line-up takes in every starter Pokémon of the first seven generations alongside three Alolan forms and Zygarde Core.

The few critics who reviewed it found it sweet but repetitive, yet it reached an audience the franchise had never aimed at before, three years ahead of the tooth-brushing app Pokémon Smile. In October 2026 it is still a free download on the App Store and Google Play, where it has passed five million installs.

Meet and play with Pokémon at Pokémon Playhouse!

Discover the fun activities throughout Pokémon Playhouse, an official Pokémon app for younger Pokémon fans from The Pokémon Company International. In Pokémon Playhouse, your child can interact with all kinds of cute Pokémon as they explore various locations, including a tower, lounge, and outdoor playground. Every location within Pokémon Playhouse features activities created just for younger Pokémon fans, such as taking care of Pokémon in the Pokémon Grooming activity, or identifying Pokémon in the night sky in the Search the Stars activity.

To accompany the unique look of the Pokémon in Pokémon Playhouse, your child can watch them at play in new picture stories. Head to the Playroom to listen to a story and see the adorable Pokémon go on exciting new adventures!

At the beginning of their time in the Pokémon Playhouse, your child will be given a Pokémon Egg to keep track of. As your child explores the Pokémon Playhouse and completes activities, the Pokémon Egg will begin to hatch, and eventually reveal a new Pokémon!

Designed for children ages 3–5, no reading or math skills are necessary to complete activities. A friendly human character will host and narrate all the activities so your child can enjoy every aspect of the Pokémon Playhouse regardless of their learning level.

The Pokémon Playhouse app does not collect any personal information and does not include any in-app purchases. Download the app for free and let your child start exploring the wonderful Pokémon Playhouse today!

— Official description

Quick Answers

The questions parents ask most about Pokémon Playhouse, answered first and explained further down the page.

Is Pokémon Playhouse free, and does it have ads or in-app purchases?

It is completely free. There are no adverts, nothing locked away and no in-app purchases, and The Pokémon Company International says the app collects no personal information. The only part meant for grown-ups is a Parent Info area behind a parental lock, and that simply points parents towards other Pokémon apps. More →

Can you still download Pokémon Playhouse in 2026?

Yes. In October 2026 it is still a free download on the App Store, for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with iOS 8 or later, and on Google Play for Android 5.1 or later. It has never been withdrawn, and because it plays offline once it is installed, there are no servers that could be switched off. More →

Is Pokémon Playhouse on Nintendo Switch?

No. It has only ever been released for phones and tablets: iOS and iPadOS, Android and Amazon’s Fire tablets. There has never been a Switch or other console version, and the app has no online features, so it does not connect to Pokémon HOME, Pokémon GO or any other Pokémon game. More →

How many Pokémon are in Pokémon Playhouse?

There are 52 Pokémon to befriend. Six of them, including Pikachu, Snorlax and Zygarde Core, are friends from the very first session, and the other 46 hatch from Eggs one at a time. Magby and Elekid were drawn in the Playhouse style too, but neither ever joins the friends. TPCi’s launch publicity promised more than 50 Pokémon. More →

Eevee in Pokémon Playhouse — Eevee, one of the 46 friends that hatch from Eggs.

How do you get new Pokémon in Pokémon Playhouse?

By hatching Eggs. Leena gives the child a Pokémon Egg at the start, and every finished activity, from feeding hungry Pokémon to colouring in a constellation, cracks it a little more. After five activities it hatches into a new Pokémon friend and a fresh Egg takes its place. Which Pokémon come to visit depends on how the child plays. More →

What age is Pokémon Playhouse for?

It is made for children aged three to five. Everything is narrated aloud by the host, Leena, so no reading or maths is needed. The App Store rates it 4+ and files it in its Made for Ages 0–5 band; Common Sense Media suggests it from age three, and Children and Media Australia recommends it from four. More →

Who is the narrator in Pokémon Playhouse?

The host is Leena, a friendly young woman who greets the child, hands over the first Egg and explains every activity out loud. Maya Aoki Tuttle voices her in English. Some reviewers found her constant reminders wearing for children who already know what to do, but they are what let non-readers play on their own. More →

Was Pokémon Playhouse released in Japan?

No. It launched on 21 September 2017 in North America, Europe and Australia, with local names on some European store pages, such as Pavillon Pokémon in France and Pokémon-Spielhaus in Germany. It never came out in Japan or anywhere else in Asia, and it has no Japanese title. More →

The Playhouse rooms and activities

The Playhouse is one cartoon house laid out around a central hub: a door leads out to the Playground, stairs climb to the Lounge and the Tower, and another flight goes down to the Playroom. The four areas hold between one and three activities each, eight in all, and every one of them feeds the same Egg, so a child can stick to favourites or wander from room to room and still hatch new friends. Leena introduces each activity as it starts. The table sums them up, and each room is described in more detail below.

4areas around the central hub
8activities, all feeding the same Egg
5finished activities to hatch an Egg
3narrated picture stories

Area	Activity	What the child does	Counts towards the Egg when
Playground	Playground play	Drags up to six friends onto the swings, treehouse and other play equipment	All six friends have been placed
Lounge	Feeding Time	Gives three Pokémon the Berry each one is thinking of	All three Pokémon are fed
Lounge	Pokémon Grooming	Rubs on a plaster, hair dryer, brush or sponge and hose	Three Pokémon are clean and tidy
Playroom	Picture stories	Listens to one of three narrated storybooks	The story ends
Playroom	Puzzles	Slots Pokémon into matching gaps across five scenes	The puzzle is complete
Playroom	Flashlight Tag	Finds six silhouetted Pokémon with a torch beam	All six Pokémon are found
Tower	Search the Stars	Joins stars into a Pokémon outline and colours it in	The constellation is revealed
Tower	Pokémon Tunes	Taps four Pokémon in the order shown by the notes	The choir finishes its song

The central hub and the Playground

The central hubEvery area opens off the hub, which has no activity of its own. Its centrepiece is a console that brings up the list of Pokémon friends, and the Egg gauge in the corner of the screen shows how close the current Egg is to hatching. From here the child can head to any of the four areas, in any order.

The PlaygroundThe outdoor Playground is a panoramic play park that the child can scroll right round through 360 degrees. Up to six befriended Pokémon can be dragged into place on the swings, the treehouse and the rest of the equipment, although only the smaller Pokémon fit on the apparatus itself, and bigger ones wait on the ground beside it. Placing all six friends counts as a finished activity. With no right or wrong answers beyond choosing who goes where, it is the most open-ended corner of the Playhouse and the closest the app comes to free play.

The Lounge

Feeding TimeUp the stairs to the left of the hub, three Pokémon sit at the Lounge’s bar counter, each with a thought bubble showing the Berry it fancies, while a selection of Berries drifts across the screen. The child drags the right Berry to each Pokémon in turn, and once all three have been fed, the Egg moves on and a new trio takes their seats. It is a simple shape-and-colour matching game that rewards careful looking rather than speed.

Pokémon GroomingIn the Lounge’s bed area, Pokémon arrive scuffed, soaked, fluffy or muddy, and the right tool appears above each one’s head for the child to rub over them: a plaster for a scrape, a hair dryer for a wet coat and a brush for stray fluff. Muddy Pokémon need a three-step clean, with a sponge, then a hose to rinse off the bubbles, then the dryer. Three spruced-up Pokémon complete the activity, and each one moves the Egg gauge along.

The Playroom

Litten in Pokémon Playhouse — Litten, star of A Nap for Litten.

Picture storiesDownstairs, the Playroom bookcase holds three picture books: Treasure Hunt, Pecha Berry Jam and A Nap for Litten, with Litten, Pichu and Cleffa among their stars. Picking one plays it as an illustrated story read aloud, with each word lighting up as it is spoken, which makes this the only part of the app with words on screen and a gentle first taste of following text on a page. Finishing a story counts towards the Egg, and TPCi presented story time as a way of giving the Pokémon in them a little extra backstory.

PuzzlesThe puzzles show a landscape dotted with Pokémon-shaped holes, and the child slots each Pokémon into the gap that matches its outline. There are five scenes, Forest, Field, Ocean, Volcano and Mountain, and the later ones have more pieces to place.

Flashlight TagThe lights go out on a field at night, and six Pokémon hide in the darkness as black silhouettes. The child sweeps a torch beam around the screen to find them, and every discovery fills a little more of the Egg gauge. Once all six have been spotted, a new round begins with a different group of Pokémon.

Pichu in Pokmon Playhouse — Pichu, a storybook star

Cleffa in Pokmon Playhouse — Cleffa, another storybook star

The Tower

Search the StarsReached by a staircase at the far side of the hub, the Tower has a telescope pointing at the night sky. The child traces a finger between the brightest stars to join them into a Pokémon’s outline, then rubs across the shape to colour the constellation in and reveal who it is. Part dot-to-dot, part guessing game, it is the activity Miketendo64’s reviewer singled out as one he liked even as an adult.

Pokémon TunesOn the Tower’s stage, four Pokémon line up above a strip of sheet music that shows the order in which to tap them. Following it builds the tune note by note, and when the sequence is complete the Pokémon sing the song together as a little choir. TPCi’s launch material described it as forming a band with Pokémon, and it is the app’s nod to early music skills.

Gameplay

Around the eight activities sit a few simple rules: a host who explains everything, a single Egg that marks progress, and a list of friends that grows as Eggs hatch.

Leena, your host

Leena and the welcomeOpening the app introduces Leena, a cheerful young woman who acts as guide to the whole Playhouse. She explains that the aim is to make friends with all the Pokémon who come to visit, hands the child their first Pokémon Egg and talks them through each activity as it begins, repeating her prompts at every turn. Maya Aoki Tuttle provides her English voice. Because every instruction is spoken, nobody needs to read or count, which is exactly what a three-to-five age range calls for; the flip side, as reviewers noted, is that children who already know what to do can find her running commentary tiresome.

Eggs and Pokémon friends

Pokémon Eggs and hatchingProgress is tracked through a single Pokémon Egg, shown with a hatching gauge in the top-right corner of the screen. Finishing any activity cracks it a step further, and some activities nudge the gauge along in smaller steps as well, such as each Pokémon groomed or each hidden Pokémon found. After five completed activities the Egg hatches into a new Pokémon friend, Leena hands over a fresh one and the cycle starts again. Which Pokémon turn up depends on how the child chooses to play.

The friends consoleA console in the middle of the hub opens the list of Pokémon friends, the app’s answer to a Pokédex. Six friends are there from the start, and the other 46 arrive one at a time from Eggs, so completing the set means hatching dozens of them over many sessions. Befriended Pokémon can then be taken out to the Playground, where the child chooses which friends to play with, which gives the collection a purpose beyond the list itself.

Devices, controls and offline play

Tap, drag and rubEverything is done by tapping, dragging and rubbing on the touchscreen, with no menus to read. The iOS app takes up close to 500 MB and today needs iOS 8 or later, while the Android version’s minimum has risen over the years, to Android 5.1 with the latest build. After the first download no internet connection is needed, and nothing links to Pokémon HOME, Pokémon GO or any other Pokémon game.

Free, ad-free and private

No adverts, no purchases, no dataPlayhouse costs nothing, shows no adverts, keeps nothing behind a paywall and has no in-app purchases, and TPCi states that it collects no personal information. Grown-ups get a Parent Info section, revised in 2018, that sits behind a parental lock: Children and Media Australia noted that it opens only when a code shown on screen is entered, and that it links only to other Pokémon apps.

Pokémon

Every Pokémon in the app was redrawn for Playhouse with rounder shapes and cute new expressions to suit small children, and 52 of them can be befriended. The line-up runs from Generation I to Generation VII. It includes all 21 starter Pokémon of those seven generations, baby Pokémon such as Pichu, Cleffa, Togepi and Munchlax, eleven Pokémon first found in Alola, three Alolan forms and long-standing favourites such as Eevee, Meowth and Magikarp. The roster has not changed since launch.

The six starting friends

Six Pokémon are already friends when a child first opens the app, ready to be taken out to the Playground straight away:

Wobbuffet in Pokmon Playhouse — Wobbuffet

Alolan Raichu in Pokmon Playhouse — Alolan Raichu

Zygarde Core in Pokmon Playhouse — Zygarde Core

Friends from Eggs

The other 46 friends hatch from Eggs, one Egg at a time. Every starter Pokémon from Kanto to Alola is among them:

BulbasaurKanto
CharmanderKanto
SquirtleKanto
ChikoritaJohto
CyndaquilJohto
TotodileJohto
TreeckoHoenn
TorchicHoenn
MudkipHoenn
TurtwigSinnoh
ChimcharSinnoh
PiplupSinnoh
SnivyUnova
TepigUnova
OshawottUnova
ChespinKalos
FennekinKalos
FroakieKalos
RowletAlola
LittenAlola
PopplioAlola

Charmander in Pokmon Playhouse — Charmander

Baby Pokémon, Pokémon from Alola and old favourites hatch from Eggs too, as do Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Vulpix. Among them:

MeowthOld favourite
MagikarpOld favourite
EeveeOld favourite
PichuBaby; storybook star
CleffaBaby; storybook star
TogepiBaby Pokémon
MunchlaxBaby Pokémon
KomalaFrom Alola
TogedemaruFrom Alola

Togedemaru in Pokmon Playhouse — Togedemaru

Updates & version history

Playhouse has never had new rooms, activities or Pokémon. Its updates have been fixes, a revised parents’ area and changes to keep it running on newer phones and tablets, with Android getting the most attention:

Date	Version	What changed
21 September 2017	1.0 (iOS) · 1.0.0 (Android)	Announced and released the same day on the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for Kindle Fire
September 2017	1.0.4 (Android)	Fixes a bug that left some devices stuck on a blank white screen
26 September 2017	1.0.5 (Android)	Fixes a title-screen bug linked to localisation
27 April 2018	1.0.7 (Android)	New Parent Info navigation; Android 4.1 now the minimum
1 May 2018	1.1 (iOS)	The same Parent Info update for iPhone and iPad
30 May 2019	1.2 (iOS) · 1.2.0 (Android)	Improvements for the iPhone X and behind-the-scenes updates on iOS; a better experience on larger tablets on Android. The last iOS update to date
3 August 2020	1.2.2 (Android)	Bug fixes; Android 4.4 now the minimum
2 July 2024	1.2.5 (Android)	The latest build, which needs Android 5.1 or later

Regional Variations

Playhouse was released as a single English-language app, but where it went, and what it was called, varied a little:

Pokémon Playhouse launched on the same day, 21 September 2017, across North America, Europe and Australia. It was never released in Japan or anywhere else in Asia, so it has no Japanese title.
Some European App Store pages give it a local name, Pavillon Pokémon in France and Pokémon-Spielhaus in Germany, although the stores list English as the app’s only language.
The official website came in separate editions for the United States, the UK and Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Left in the data

A placeholder graphic called TEST_HidingSpot, showing a heap of Pokémon piled on top of one another, is still in the game data. It was most likely used during development to check how big the Pokémon looked next to one another.
Magby and Elekid have Playhouse artwork and friend icons of their own, yet neither ever hatches or joins the friends list, so the two baby Pokémon seem to have been dropped from the final line-up.

Magby in Pokmon Playhouse — Magby: drawn, never befriended

Elekid in Pokmon Playhouse — Elekid: drawn, never befriended

Glitches, exploits and oddities

Two bugs turned up in launch week, both on Android and both fixed within days:

Blank white screen at launch

In the first days after release, some Android users found that Pokémon Playhouse opened onto nothing but a blank white screen and went no further. The Pokémon Company International fixed the fault within days with Android version 1.0.4, and Miketendo64’s launch-week review, played on that version, reported that the blank screen was a thing of the past. Later updates were mostly menu and compatibility changes rather than fixes of this kind.

Title-screen localisation bug

Android version 1.0.5, released on 26 September 2017, five days after launch, corrected a fault on the title screen connected with the app’s localisation. The release note said only ‘Fixed Title screen bug related to localization.’ The patch came while the app was on sale in several European stores under local names such as Pavillon Pokémon and Pokémon-Spielhaus, and no matching fix appears in the iOS version history.

Videos & media

The official launch trailer, from The Pokémon Company International:

Welcome to Pokémon Playhouse!, released on launch day, 21 September 2017, tours the rooms and introduces some of the Pokémon friends.

Trivia & facts

Rowlet, one of the 21 starters.

All 21 starter Pokémon of the first seven generations can be befriended, from Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle through to Rowlet, Litten and Popplio.
Zygarde Core, the tiny form of Zygarde introduced in Sun and Moon, is one of the six friends a child starts with, and it is the only Pokémon in the app with a link to a Legendary.
Alolan Vulpix.

Playhouse came out during Generation VII, two months before Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, which is why Alolan Raichu, Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Vulpix are among the friends, along with eleven Pokémon first found in Alola.
Two familiar items are tucked into the scenery: a Luck Incense in the Lounge and a Rare Candy in the Playroom.
The three picture stories are the only place in the app where children see written words, and each word lights up as it is read aloud.
There was no teaser campaign: The Pokémon Company International announced the app and released it on the same day.
The official website has long said that the app runs on Android 2.3 and up, although no version of it has ever supported anything older than Android 3.0.
TechCrunch made a point of noting that there is no capturing, battling or raiding at all, which set Playhouse firmly apart from Pokémon GO.
Kidscreen reported the launch alongside TOMY’s Pokémon Petite Pals, a range of tiny stylised figures and playsets for younger fans that reached shops the same autumn.
Pocket Gamer’s list of the top 10 mobile Pokémon games actually has 11 entries, and in its August 2025 update Playhouse is tenth.

Legacy

What came after

Announcement and launch – 21 September 2017. Revealed and released the same day on the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, in North America, Europe and Australia
Launch-week fixes – September 2017. Android 1.0.4 and 1.0.5 cure a blank-screen bug and a title-screen bug
Parent Info update – 1 May 2018. iOS 1.1, a few days after Android 1.0.7, revises the parents’ area
Version 1.2 – 30 May 2019. iPhone X and large-tablet improvements; the last iOS update to date
Android 1.2.5 – 2 July 2024. The latest build, which needs Android 5.1 or later
Pocket Gamer’s best mobile Pokémon games – 2 August 2025. Playhouse is tenth in the updated ranking
Five million installs – by October 2026. Shown on the Google Play listing; the app is still available on both major stores

Where to play it today

Pokémon Playhouse is still a free download in October 2026, with no adverts and no in-app purchases. The App Store version, 1.2, was last updated on 30 May 2019 and runs on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with iOS 8 or later, while the Google Play version, 1.2.5, arrived on 2 July 2024 and needs Android 5.1 or later. It was also released for Kindle Fire tablets through the Amazon Appstore. Because the app runs entirely offline once installed, there are no servers to be shut down, but there has never been a Nintendo Switch or other console version.

How it was made

Pokémon Playhouse was made by The Pokémon Company International, the arm of The Pokémon Company, based in Bellevue, Washington, that looks after the brand outside Asia, and it was the company’s first Pokémon product designed specifically for preschoolers. The store listings credit no outside studio. The Pokémon were redrawn with new, cuter expressions for the app, and the character artwork is credited to the illustrator Leah Fuhrman, of the children’s digital studio Curious Media; Maya Aoki Tuttle voices the host, Leena.

There was no build-up. TPCi revealed the app and put it on the stores on the same day, 21 September 2017, with a press release and a short trailer, Welcome to Pokémon Playhouse! In the announcement J.C. Smith, TPCi’s senior director of consumer marketing, described Pokémon as a property for all ages and offered the app to parents as an age-appropriate choice for ‘the littlest Trainers in their family’. It arrived a little over a year after Pokémon GO had become a worldwide craze, and gave the franchise a way in with children who were still too young for it.

Popularity & reception

Downloads and player ratings

Playhouse is free and sells nothing, so it earns no money directly, and The Pokémon Company International has never published a download total. Its Google Play listing alone shows more than five million installs by October 2026; App Store and Amazon Appstore figures are not public. Players on Apple’s store are the kinder judges: it averages 4.2 out of 5 from about 2,000 ratings on the US App Store, against 3.4 from about 34,800 reviews on Google Play, and Metacritic users give it 8.2 from just six ratings.

5m+installs on Google Play
4.2/5App Store (US), about 2,000 ratings
3.4/5Google Play, about 34,800 reviews
10thin Pocket Gamer’s 2025 ranking of mobile Pokémon games

What the press and parents’ guides said

Mainstream games sites mostly reported the launch rather than reviewing it, so Playhouse has no Metacritic critic score, and its fullest verdicts came from guides for parents. Common Sense Media rated it suitable from age three and felt that “Gameplay is appropriate for small kids (there are no Pokémon battles here) but is repetitive and not very imaginative.” Children and Media Australia recommended it from four, observing that “A human narrates the whole game, and no written instructions are provided so most children can enjoy this game.” The one scored review came from the fan site Miketendo64.

Miketendo64Jack Longman, 25 September 2017

7/10

Common Sense Media praised the clear spoken instructions, the cute characters and the lack of adverts, but found the mini-games repetitive and unchallenging, and noted that the free content doubles as a way of cultivating young Pokémon fans. Children and Media Australia valued the fully narrated design and modest learning benefits such as recognising characters and matching shapes. Miketendo64’s Jack Longman enjoyed hatching Eggs and stargazing but tired of the host’s voice over a long session, while TechCrunch likened the activities to Toca Boca’s apps. Years later, Pocket Gamer still counted Playhouse among the best Pokémon games on mobile, as one geared towards younger players.

Awards and honours:

Google Play ‘Teacher Approved’ badge, shown on the app’s store listing