The Pokémon Company has introduced its most recent game title named Pokémon Co-Master, which is aimed at Android and iOS.
Apart from featuring a board game-style, this newest Pokémon game also touts what the company calls "jinkouchinou" or artificial intelligence.
It included the word "Co-Master" in its title as the game's AI is incorporated to aid gamers in the battle.
What catches the fancy of many gamers is that the Pokémon Co-Master is a free-to-play online board game.
According to Kotaku, the new game is going to feature "traditional Pokémon mechanics," which include capture, train and battle, plus "strategy-heavy board game," very much like Japanese chess shogi or Chinese board game Go.
The Pokémon Company joined forces with Heroz Japan in making the game possible, as the latter focuses on AI development. It even boasts that its software has already defeated expert shogi players during public matches. Other games the firm has created consist of Chess Heroz, Shogi Wars and BackgammonAce.
Don't get your hopes up, though, as Pokémon Co-Master is slated to land both on Android and iOS in Japan only this coming spring. At the moment, The Pokémon Company has yet to reveal as to when it plans to release the game in other parts of the globe.
For now, fans of Pokémon mobile games worldwide are expecting for the release of the Pokémon Go. A few days ago, the Pokémon Go Development Team has already announced that the "field test" for this much-awaited game will kickstart later within the month.
"The Pokémon Company and Niantic will be inviting users to field test Pokémon Go in Japan later this month," says the development team. "The Pokémon Go field test program will give users the opportunity to share early feedback and help improve the Pokémon Go experience."
Do note, however, that developer Niantic is not going to accommodate all those who sign up when the field test will be rolled out.
In another related news, Nintendo, a firm which co-owns The Pokémon Company, announced last month that pre-registration for its first smartphone game, Miitomo, is already live.
"Miitomo is a social experience that uses Nintendo's Mii characters to engage friends in a lighthearted, playful and welcoming social setting," says Nintendo.
Miitomo is pegged to be officially released in March 17 in Japan. There is no word yet as to when it will be released in the west.
If you wish to get a sneak peek of the Pokémon Co-Master's concept teaser, hit the play button below.
