Pokemon Sleep (iOS & Android)

Titles	Pokémon Sleep ポケモンスリープ (Pokémon Surīpu)
Platforms	iOS & iPadOS (App Store) · Android (Google Play) · tablets and folding phones since August 2024
Accessories	Pokémon GO Plus + (optional) · sleep data from Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch, Fitbit and Garmin watches
Developer	Select Button (2023–2024) · The Pokémon Works, a joint venture of The Pokémon Company and ILCA (taking over gradually from November 2024)
Publisher	The Pokémon Company
Music	Shota Kageyama
Players	1
Genre	Sleep tracking / simulation
Business model	Free-to-play, with in-app purchases (diamonds) and an optional Premium Pass subscription
Research areas	7, from Greengrass Isle to Amber Canyon, plus Munchlax’s Nap Island for training
Pokémon	215 species (spring 2026), each with several sleep styles
Released	20 July 2023 (Japan) · 15–20 July 2023 (rest of the world, rolled out by time zone from New Zealand)
Status	Live and updated; version 3.8.3 released on 8 October 2026
Requirements	iOS or iPadOS 15 or later · Android 8.0 or later
Rating	ESRB E · PEGI 3 · ACB G · GRAC ALL · GSRR 0+ · App Store 4+
Predecessor	None
Successor	None (updated continuously instead)
Downloads	30 million+ by April 2026 · an estimated US$100 million in player spending in its first year

Overview · Quick Answers · Story · Research Areas · Gameplay · GO Plus + & Smartwatches · Characters · Pokémon · Updates · Regional Variations · Glitches · Videos · Trivia · Legacy · Sales & Reviews · Media

Overview

Pokémon Sleep is a free-to-play sleep-tracking game for iOS and Android, published by The Pokémon Company and developed by Select Button, with music by Shota Kageyama. It rolled out around the world between 15 and 20 July 2023, Japan last of all, and since late 2024 its development has been passing in stages to The Pokémon Works, a joint venture between The Pokémon Company and ILCA. It took its time getting here: first announced in May 2019 with a 2020 target, it then vanished from view until the Pokémon Presents of 27 February 2023, which finally showed it working alongside the Pokémon GO Plus +, a small accessory that can take the phone’s place at the bedside.

The idea could hardly be simpler: you sleep, and Pokémon turn up. Lay your phone on the mattress by your pillow, or let a GO Plus + or a compatible smartwatch do the work, and the app sorts the night by how much you moved: Dozing, Snoozing or Slumbering, or Balanced for an even mix. In the morning, Pokémon of the matching type are found napping around a giant Snorlax, each curled up in one of its sleep styles, and every new pose goes into the Sleep Style Dex.

Through the day, befriended helper Pokémon gather Berries and ingredients, which go to feeding Snorlax and cooking it meals. Snorlax’s Strength multiplied by your sleep score gives the Drowsy Power that decides how many Pokémon appear the next morning, and how rare they are, so feeding Snorlax well and sleeping well go hand in hand. Logging enough sleep styles opens fresh research areas, from the starting Greengrass Isle all the way to Amber Canyon, the seventh, which opened in November 2025.

Where Pokémon GO turned walking into play and Pokémon Smile did the same for brushing teeth, Pokémon Sleep makes a game of a good night’s sleep, and its gentle daily routine found a big audience. The Pokémon Company counted 10 million downloads within about six weeks of launch and 30 million by April 2026, while app analysts estimated that players spent around US$100 million in its first year, nearly three quarters of it in Japan. Weekly events, Legendary research projects, smartwatch support and new islands have kept it growing well into its fourth year.

Quick Answers

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

Is Pokémon Sleep free, and is it pay-to-win?

It is free to download from the App Store and Google Play, and spending is optional. Diamonds buy items and limited bundles, and the Premium Pass subscription (US$9.99 a month on the US App Store) adds extra sleep points, monthly gifts and unlimited sleep history. There is no competitive play, and reviewers found the paid extras pricey but never essential. More →

Can you still play Pokémon Sleep in 2026?

Yes. As of October 2026 the game is live and updated every few weeks, most recently with version 3.8.3 on 8 October 2026. It needs iOS or iPadOS 15 or later, or Android 8.0 or later, and new research areas, Legendary research events and extras such as Munchlax’s Nap Island keep arriving. More →

Is Pokémon Sleep on Nintendo Switch?

No. It is a phone and tablet app for iOS, iPadOS and Android only, because tracking relies on a device lying beside the pillow. A Pokémon GO Plus + or a compatible smartwatch (Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch, Fitbit and, since March 2026, Garmin) can record your sleep instead, but you still need a phone or tablet to play. More →

How many Pokémon are in Pokémon Sleep?

There were 215 species as of spring 2026, drawn from all nine generations, and each has several sleep styles to record; Ditto has the most, with 11. The roster keeps growing through updates and research events, which have added Legendary Pokémon including Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Cresselia, Latias and Latios. More →

How do you unlock new research areas?

Only by registering sleep styles in the Sleep Style Dex; research rank makes no difference. Greengrass Isle is open from the start, Cyan Beach needs 20 styles, Taupe Hollow 70, Snowdrop Tundra 150, Lapis Lakeside 240, Old Gold Power Plant 340 and Amber Canyon 450, and each milestone pays out diamonds as well. More →

Do you need a Pokémon GO Plus + to play?

No. A phone on its own does the job: lay it on the mattress near your pillow, never under it, and it uses motion and sound to classify the night. The GO Plus +, released on 14 July 2023 at US$54.99 in the US, is an optional extra that records sleep without the phone and brings a Nightcap Pikachu helper. More →

Does Pokémon Sleep connect to Pokémon GO or Pokémon HOME?

Pokémon GO, yes, through the GO Plus +: paired with both apps, it earns sleep bonuses in GO, unlocks Special Research for a Nightcap Snorlax there, and makes Pokémon Sleep’s Nightcap Pikachu bring extra Berries. There is no Pokémon HOME link, so Pokémon cannot be moved in or out. More →

Is there a sequel to Pokémon Sleep?

No sequel has been announced. The Pokémon Company keeps building on the original instead, which now has seven research areas, Expert Mode challenges, smartwatch support (Garmin included) and a third-anniversary training island. Since November 2024 its development has been moving from Select Button to The Pokémon Works, a joint venture with ILCA. More →

Story & setting

Pokémon Sleep has no plot to speak of, only a gentle framing. You play a researcher studying how Pokémon sleep, working alongside Professor Neroli, and you are partnered with an enormous Snorlax on Greengrass Isle. Each night your own sleep is recorded; each morning the Pokémon whose sleep type matches yours are found dozing around Snorlax, and their poses are catalogued in the Sleep Style Dex.

The professor sets research goals as you go, and every milestone widens the study, first to Cyan Beach and then to Taupe Hollow, Snowdrop Tundra, Lapis Lakeside, Old Gold Power Plant and Amber Canyon. Each week you pick an area and raise a fresh Snorlax there, while seasonal events and special research projects bring Legendary visitors such as Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Cresselia, Latias and Latios into the study. There is no ending: the research simply carries on, week after week.

Research areas, Snorlax & sleep styles

Pokémon Sleep’s progress is mapped out in research areas: an island, a beach, a cave, a tundra, a lakeside, a power plant and a canyon, each with its own resident Snorlax and its own crowd of sleepy Pokémon. Seven are open so far, and the only key to each is the number of sleep styles in your Sleep Style Dex. Veterans can also take on an Expert Mode, and a little training island sits off to the side. What you find each morning comes down to Drowsy Power: how strong Snorlax has grown, multiplied by how well you slept.

• 7research areas, plus a training island
• 4Snorlax rating tiers: Basic, Great, Ultra and Master
• 35rating steps, from Basic 1 to Master 20
• 450sleep styles to open Amber Canyon

The research areas

Every area so far, with the number of sleep styles needed to open it and the three Berries its Snorlax likes best. Feeding it those favourites is the quickest way to build Strength, so they shape which helpers you bring:

A Snorlax for every island

Each area’s Snorlax has its own colouring, and a rare Shiny Snorlax can turn up too:

How the research works

Snorlax and the research weekEach week starts with you choosing an area and meeting its Snorlax. Over the following days it eats the Berries your helpers bring in, plus up to three cooked meals a day at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and everything it eats adds to its Strength. When the next week begins, a fresh Snorlax arrives and the cycle starts again.

Strength and Snorlax’s ratingSnorlax’s rating climbs with its Strength through four tiers named after Poké Balls: Basic, Great and Ultra, with five steps each, then Master, with 20. Every step pays out Dream Shards and widens the range of species that may come to sleep beside it. How much Strength each step needs depends on the area; on Greengrass Isle, Basic 2 takes about 3,118.

Drowsy PowerDrowsy Power is Snorlax’s Strength multiplied by the night’s sleep score. It sets how many Pokémon you find in the morning and improves the chances of rare sleep styles, so a well-fed Snorlax only really pays off if you sleep well too.

Sleep types by areaThe night’s sleep type decides which Pokémon gather, and every area has its own blend of Dozing, Snoozing and Slumbering species. Greengrass Isle has the broadest spread, with 149 species across the three types, while Amber Canyon’s newcomers include the Dozing-type Bagon and Dwebble and the Slumbering-type Trapinch.

Sleep styles and the Sleep Style DexEvery species sleeps in several distinct styles, each logged in the Sleep Style Dex; Ditto has the most, with 11. Styles carry star ratings, and three-star styles reached Greengrass Isle in August 2024 before spreading to other areas. Dex milestones are the only key to new areas, and they also hand out cooking upgrades, Thunder Stones, Skill Seeds and diamonds.

Expert ModeExpert Mode is a far tougher take on Greengrass Isle for players who have reached a high Master rating there. Snorlax’s Strength targets are much steeper, with Basic 2 needing about 41,895 instead of 3,118, and events can give the Expert Mode island bonuses of its own. It arrived in 2025, and Cyan Beach got an Expert Mode too in 2026.

Munchlax’s Nap IslandAdded for the third anniversary in July 2026 and unlocked at 35 sleep styles, this little island is a training spot rather than a research area, reached from whichever island you are studying. One helper at a time can stay with the resident Munchlax, earning up to 150 EXP a day, or more with a Relaxing Nap Ticket.

Gameplay

A day in Pokémon Sleep has three beats, all built around your real sleep:

1. At night: start a session and lay your phone on the mattress near your pillow, never under it, or let a GO Plus + or smartwatch do the recording.
2. In the morning: check your sleep score and report, then research the Pokémon that gathered around Snorlax, registering new sleep styles and befriending a few with treats.
3. Through the day: your helper team gathers Berries and ingredients, which you feed to Snorlax and cook into up to three meals, building its Strength for the next night.

Tracking your sleep

Research, helpers and cooking

Sleep research and befriendingEach morning you research the Pokémon found sleeping near Snorlax. Every species has several sleep styles, and each new one you see is registered in the Sleep Style Dex; rarer styles carry more stars and turn up more often when Snorlax’s Drowsy Power is high. Treats such as Poké Biscuits raise a Pokémon’s friendship, and once the meter fills it befriends you and can join your team. Shiny Pokémon can appear as well, and since version 2.7.0 Bronze, Silver and Gold Befriending Badges, earned through befriending, improve the odds of meeting them.

Helper Pokémon and teamsBefriended Pokémon work for you as helpers. Five are on duty at once, with a Nightcap Pikachu from the GO Plus + counting as an extra, and each specialises in Berries, ingredients or skills. Helpers gather items through the day, using up Energy as they work and recovering it while you sleep. Each has a main skill, sub skills that unlock as it levels up, and a nature that nudges its stats. Candy levels them up, and the level cap has been raised in stages since the original 50. Up to eight teams can be saved and swapped in, or Rotom can pick one for you.

CookingIngredients from your helpers go into a cooking pot, and at each mealtime you choose a dish from three categories: curries, salads, and desserts and drinks. A set recipe needs exactly the right ingredients, while the option to cook with whatever you have opens at 12 sleep styles. Better dishes give Snorlax more Strength, recipes gain levels, and the pot grows through Sleep Style Dex goals. New areas have brought new ingredients and dishes: Greengrass Corn and seven recipes with Lapis Lakeside, Rousing Coffee and six recipes with Old Gold Power Plant, and Glossy Avocado and four recipes with Amber Canyon.

Sleep Style Dex goals and research rankProgress is driven by Sleep Style Dex goals set by Professor Neroli, which currently run from 7 to 510 styles. Registering 7 styles opens a new way to raise Pokémon, 12 lets you cook with any ingredients and 35 enlarges the pot, while the bigger milestones open the research areas, from Cyan Beach at 20 to Amber Canyon at 450. Each goal pays 100 or 200 diamonds, and later ones add items such as a Thunder Stone or Skill Seeds. Separately, research earns EXP towards your research rank, which was capped at 50 in 2023 and has been raised several times since. New players also get a week-long Novice Researcher Bonus of 600 extra sleep points a day.

Events, Relaxing Sounds and alarms

Weekly events and Legendary researchSomething is on almost every week, tied to holidays, Pokémon types or the moon. Good Sleep Day, first held from 30 August 2023, became a recurring bonus day; type weeks such as Eevee Week and Electric Type Week put particular Pokémon in the spotlight; Growth, Dream Shard, skill and cooking weeks speed up other parts of the routine; and New Moon Days raise the odds of rarer visitors. The bigger research events bring in Legendary Pokémon: Raikou, Entei and Suicune in 2024, Cresselia with a temporary Darkrai in 2025, and Latias and Latios in 2026, alongside Halloween and holiday events.

A bedtime companionPokémon Sleep is also there to help you nod off. Relaxing Sounds play Pokémon-themed music to drift off to, and updates have added tracks such as a Poké Flute piece, ‘Campfire’, ‘Waves’, ‘Pikachu Lullaby 2’, ‘Forest’ and ‘Jigglypuff’s Song’. Smart alarms try to wake you during a light stage of sleep, with alarm tunes including ‘Berry Collection’, ‘Quiet Awakening’, ‘Up-Tempo’ and ‘Let’s Go’. The music is by Shota Kageyama, and an official 34-song album was released on Spotify in September 2024.

Diamonds and the Sleep Pass

Two optional ways to spendPokémon Sleep costs nothing to play. Diamonds, sold in packs from 60 for US$1.19 to 7,000 for US$97.99 on the US App Store, buy items and limited bundles such as event incense and biscuits. The Sleep Pass has a free Regular tier and a paid Premium Pass (US$9.99 a month or US$49.99 for six months in the US, with a two-week free trial) that adds 100 sleep points to every session, a monthly gift of a Good Camp Ticket and 1,000 sleep points, loyalty gifts every three months, unlimited sleep history and a sleep diary.

There is no competitive play, so spending never puts anyone ahead of anyone else, and reviewers found the paid extras pricey but not essential. Diamonds can also be earned for free through Sleep Style Dex goals.

Pokémon GO Plus +, smartwatches & Pokémon GO

You need nothing more than a phone or tablet to play, but Pokémon Sleep was designed with an accessory in mind. The Pokémon GO Plus +, unveiled alongside the game back in 2019, went on sale on 14 July 2023, the day before the app began rolling out (Europe followed on 21 July), at US$54.99 in the United States. It records sleep without the phone, and it also works as an auto-catcher for Pokémon GO, which makes it the bridge between the two apps.

Smartwatches joined in on 23 September 2024, when sleep recorded by an Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch or Fitbit became usable for research, read in through Apple Health on iOS or Health Connect on Android. Garmin watches followed in March 2026. The app itself does not run on a watch, so a phone or tablet is still needed.

Ways to record a night

Using the GO Plus +

Linking with Pokémon GO

The same accessory can be paired with Pokémon GO as well, and it is the only link between the two games. Pokémon Sleep has no connection to Pokémon HOME either, so its Pokémon stay in the app.

Nightcap Pikachu and Nightcap SnorlaxIn Pokémon GO the device spins PokéStops and throws Poké Balls automatically, and sleep recorded with it earns bonuses there too. Pairing it with Pokémon GO unlocks Special Research that rewards a Snorlax wearing a nightcap, the counterpart to Pokémon Sleep’s Nightcap Pikachu, and once the accessory is linked to both apps, Nightcap Pikachu brings in extra Berries.

Characters

Pokémon Sleep keeps its cast small. The three you will meet most often:

• Professor Neroli: The researcher who guides you through Pokémon Sleep. Professor Neroli introduces each feature as it unlocks, sets the Sleep Style Dex goals that open new areas and tools, and keeps the early work centred on Greengrass Isle before the study spreads to other islands.
• Snorlax: The heart of the game. Each week you are paired with the Snorlax of your chosen area and feed it up, and its colouring changes from island to island (seeA Snorlax for every island).
• Rotom: Runs the ‘help me pick’ option on the team screen, putting together a ready-made line-up from your befriended Pokémon so you don’t have to weigh up specialties, skills and Energy by hand, a real help once your Pokémon Box holds dozens of helpers.

Two more Pokémon have special jobs:

Nightcap Pikachu

A Pikachu in a nightcap that joins you once a Pokémon GO Plus + is paired with the game. It sits outside the usual limit of five helpers, and if the same accessory is also linked to Pokémon GO it brings in extra Berries. Its opposite number in Pokémon GO is a Snorlax in a nightcap, earned through Special Research.

Munchlax

The host of Munchlax’s Nap Island, the training spot added for the third anniversary in July 2026. While your helper naps there, Munchlax uses Pickup to gather up to 30 items, from Dream Shards to Candy, and hands them over when the guest heads home.

Pokémon

Pokémon Sleep had 215 species as of spring 2026, drawn from all nine generations and including the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Paldea starter lines. Every species has a set of sleep styles to register, and any Pokémon befriended through sleep research can join your team as a helper. The roster grows with almost every big update: Mime Jr. and Mr. Mime arrived in September 2023 and Mimikyu in October 2024, new areas brought groups such as the Dratini, Shinx and Bagon lines, and research events have added the Legendary Raikou, Entei and Suicune in 2024, Cresselia in 2025, and Latias and Latios in 2026, with Darkrai making guest appearances.

Pokémon of note

• SnorlaxThe mascot
• PikachuNightcap Pikachu
• Ditto11 sleep styles
• RaikouLegendary, 2024
• EnteiLegendary, 2024
• SuicuneLegendary, 2024
• LatiasLegendary, 2026
• LatiosLegendary, 2026
• MunchlaxNap Island host
• CresseliaLegendary, 2025
• DarkraiEvent guest, 2025
• MimikyuHalloween 2024

• Snorlax – The mascot and the Pokémon you raise: a new one every week, tinted differently in each research area.
• Pikachu – Joins as the Nightcap Pikachu helper once a Pokémon GO Plus + is paired.
• Ditto – Has the most sleep styles of any species (11) and gained the Transform main skill in December 2024.
• Raikou – Star of the first Legendary research event in spring 2024; now found at Old Gold Power Plant and on Greengrass Isle.
• Entei – Entei Research ran in May 2024, and Entei settled in Taupe Hollow for good on 20 May.
• Suicune – Suicune Research followed in late summer 2024, and Suicune joined Cyan Beach and Lapis Lakeside on 9 September.
• Latias – Made its debut through a research event in April 2026.
• Latios – Arrived with a Dragon-type event in May 2026.
• Munchlax – Hosts Munchlax’s Nap Island, the training spot added for the third anniversary in July 2026.
• Cresselia – Headlined the Cresselia vs. Darkrai event and joined several areas permanently on 31 March 2025.
• Darkrai – A temporary visitor during that Cresselia vs. Darkrai event in spring 2025.
• Mimikyu – Arrived on 28 October 2024 for Halloween, with its own Disguise (Berry Burst) main skill.

Updates & events timeline

Pokémon Sleep has been updated every few weeks since launch. The main steps, from the first announcement to the latest version (download milestones are listed under Legacy):

Before launch: 2019–2023

• 29 May 2019 – Announced by Tsunekazu Ishihara at the Pokémon 2019 Press Conference in Tokyo, due in 2020
• 27 February 2023 – Back at last in a Pokémon Presents, with a summer 2023 window and the Pokémon GO Plus +
• 6 July 2023 – Pre-registration opens on Google Play
• 9 July 2023 – An Android open beta begins in Argentina, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, running to 13 July
• 14 July 2023 – The Pokémon GO Plus + goes on sale in Japan, the Americas and parts of Asia, and the Snorlax sleep livestream begins

2023

• 15–20 July – Worldwide launch, staggered by time zone and ending in Japan
• 21 July – The Pokémon GO Plus + reaches Europe
• 25 August – Version 1.0.6 adds Good Sleep Day (first held from 30 August) and a wider bedtime window
• 16 November – Version 1.0.13: Eevee Week, with new Relaxing Sounds and alarms
• 21 December – Version 1.0.16 removes Facebook account linking

2024

• 24 January – Lapis Lakeside opens (version 1.1.0), bringing Greengrass Corn and seven recipes
• 29 February – Version 1.3.0: Electric Type Week; research rank and level caps rise to 55
• 21 March – Version 1.4.0 prepares Raikou Research, the first Legendary research event
• 14 May – Version 1.7.2: Entei Research, with Entei joining Taupe Hollow on 20 May
• 1 August – Version 1.10.0: Good-Night Ribbons, support for tablets and folding phones, and caps raised to 60
• 27 August – Version 1.11.0: Suicune Research, with Suicune joining Cyan Beach and Lapis Lakeside on 9 September
• 23 September – Sleep data from Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch and Fitbit can now be used for research
• 2 October – Old Gold Power Plant opens (version 2.0.0) with Rousing Coffee and six recipes
• 28 October – Mimikyu arrives for Halloween with its Disguise (Berry Burst) skill

2025

• 26 March – Version 2.6.0: the Cresselia vs. Darkrai event and World Sleep Day features
• 17 April – Version 2.7.0: Befriending Badges, caps raised to 65 and room for 1,200 Pokémon in the Pokémon Box
• Summer – Expert Mode opens for Greengrass Isle
• November – Amber Canyon opens with Glossy Avocado and four recipes

2026

• March – Garmin smartwatches supported
• April – Latias makes its debut in a research event
• May – Version 3.5.0: a Latios event, and iOS and iPadOS 15 now required
• June – Version 3.6.0 raises the research rank, helper and recipe level caps again and enlarges the Pokémon Box
• July – Third anniversary: Munchlax’s Nap Island is added
• August – Expert Mode comes to Cyan Beach, and Fitbit sleep data works on iOS
• 8 October – Version 3.8.3, the latest update at the time of writing

Regional Variations

Pokémon Sleep launched as one app for the whole world, but a few things have differed from place to place:

• The launch rolled out by time zone over several days in mid-July 2023, beginning in New Zealand and Australia and ending in Japan on 20 July.
• The Pokémon GO Plus + went on sale in Japan, the Americas, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan on 14 July 2023, a week before it reached Europe on 21 July.
• Smartwatch data reaches the game through Apple Health on iOS and Health Connect on Android, and Fitbit watches worked only with Android phones until August 2026.
• Japan is the game’s stronghold: Japanese players were estimated to account for nearly three quarters of the money spent in its first year and about 44% of its downloads.

Glitches, exploits and oddities

Pokémon Sleep has no famous glitches, but a few bugs have stopped players in their tracks:

The -000001 login error

In September 2023 an error labelled -000001 stopped some players logging in at all, and version 1.0.8 arrived on 13 September 2023 specifically to fix it. It rounded off a busy first two months of patches, which had already dealt with Relaxing Sounds playing at the wrong volume or refusing to loop, heavy battery drain when the phone was not laid face down, slow sleep-research animations and trouble entering a date of birth.

Lapis Lakeside’s “unknown error”

Some players researching at Lapis Lakeside ran into an “unknown error” that appeared only on certain devices and set-ups, until version 1.8.1 fixed it on 3 July 2024. Earlier patches had cured a stall while the title screen loaded (version 1.0.14, November 2023) and a loading problem when moving data to a new iPhone with Quick Start (version 1.0.10).

Sleep research stuck on “Now Loading”

Shortly after the Cresselia vs. Darkrai update of March 2025, sleep research could freeze on a “Now Loading” screen, leaving players unable to see the night’s Pokémon. Version 2.6.3 fixed it on 1 April 2025. It followed 2.6.1, which corrected how bedtime rewards were handed out and fixed sleep-tracking problems, and an Android-only 2.6.2 that brought back background music over Bluetooth earphones.

Videos & media

Official Pokémon Sleep videos: the 2023 return, a how-to-play guide, the pre-launch Snorlax livestream and the smartwatch and Garmin announcements.

The Pokémon Presents of 27 February 2023, where Pokémon Sleep returned after almost four years with a summer window and the GO Plus +.

The official how-to-play video from July 2023: tracking sleep, researching sleep styles and raising Snorlax.

The pre-launch livestream that showed nothing but Snorlax fast asleep, July 2023.

Smartwatch tracking arrives, September 2024.

Pokémon Sleep x Garmin, marking Garmin support in March 2026.

Trivia & facts

• Pokémon Sleep was announced in May 2019 for release in 2020, then went almost four years without a proper showing, long enough for talk that it had been quietly cancelled, before its full reveal in February 2023.

• 

  The logo shown at the 2019 announcement is not the one the game launched with.

• In the week before launch, a Japanese livestream showed nothing but a sleeping Snorlax, from 14 to 20 July 2023 (Pacific time), to an arrangement of Jigglypuff’s song from the anime. Good-night messages from viewers raised its Drowsy Power and set off special moments.
• Ditto has more sleep styles than any other Pokémon in the game: 11 of them.
• The app warns players not to put their device under a pillow or blankets, as it may overheat, and The Pokémon Company stresses that it is for entertainment only and not for detecting, diagnosing or treating any medical condition.
• Players logged about 3.9 billion hours of sleep in the first year, which adds up to more than 440,000 years.

• 

  The GO Plus + only counts a night if the session lasts at least 90 minutes, and its built-in Pikachu unlocks more lullabies and alarm sounds the more it is used.

• Munchlax’s Nap Island has no map icon of its own: it is reached from whichever island is being researched, and a helper left there stops earning EXP after a year.
• Signing in with a Facebook account was withdrawn in version 1.0.16, on 21 December 2023.

Legacy

What came after

• Worldwide launch – 15–20 July 2023. Rolled out on iOS and Android by time zone, ending in Japan
• 10 million downloads – 25 August 2023. Reached about six weeks after launch
• 100 million Pokémon befriended – 15 September 2023. Two months into the game’s life
• 20 million downloads – 25 June 2024. Shortly before the first anniversary
• First anniversary – July 2024. Players had tracked about 3.9 billion hours of sleep
• Official album on Spotify – 24 September 2024. 34 songs from the game, plus a 20-track sleep playlist
• Move to The Pokémon Works – 12 November 2024. Development begins passing from Select Button to the joint venture of The Pokémon Company and ILCA
• 30 million downloads – 27 April 2026. Announced by The Pokémon Company
• Third anniversary – July 2026. Celebrated with Munchlax’s Nap Island

Where to play it today

Pokémon Sleep is still live and free to download from the App Store and Google Play as of October 2026, with in-app purchases and the optional Premium Pass. The latest version, 3.8.3, arrived on 8 October 2026; the app needs iOS or iPadOS 15 or later, or Android 8.0 or later, and runs on tablets and folding phones as well as phones. Development now sits with The Pokémon Works, and events, Legendary research projects and new areas keep coming. The Pokémon GO Plus + remains an optional extra, and sleep recorded on Apple, Samsung, Google, Fitbit and Garmin watches can be used for research through a paired phone.

How it was made

Pokémon Sleep was announced on 29 May 2019 by Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, at the Pokémon 2019 Press Conference in Tokyo. It was unveiled together with the Pokémon GO Plus +, and at the time it was expected in 2020.

That year came and went without a word. The project surfaced only in fragments: a security certificate for a Pokémon Sleep subdomain of the Japanese Pokémon website appeared in April 2021, and data for both the game and the accessory was found inside Pokémon GO in January 2022. Not until the Pokémon Presents of 27 February 2023 was the game shown working, with a summer 2023 release window.

The app was developed by Select Button inc., with music by Shota Kageyama. Pre-registration opened on Google Play on 6 July 2023, and an Android open beta ran from 9 to 13 July in Argentina, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, widening to more Latin American countries from 10 July, a few days before the worldwide launch began.

On 12 November 2024 The Pokémon Company announced that development would pass gradually to The Pokémon Works, its joint venture with ILCA. Two updates billed as Unity compatibility work, one in August 2024 and another in 2025, asked players to download the game’s data again.

Pokémon Sleep elsewhere

Pokémon Horizons: The SeriesThe Greengrass Isle Snorlax makes a guest appearance in episode HZ146 of Pokémon Horizons: The Series. The Rising Volt Tacklers cook it a curry, and its soothing presence then helps Dot’s Quaquaval and Tinkaton make up for lost sleep, a fitting nod to the app’s idea of Snorlax as a bringer of rest.

The soundtrack on SpotifyOn 24 September 2024 The Pokémon Company announced an official Pokémon Sleep album of 34 songs on Spotify, free to stream with an account, alongside a 20-track sleep playlist that gave early outings to three relaxing songs not yet in the game. Every track came with artwork of Pokémon in their sleep styles.

Sales & reviews

Downloads and player spending

Pokémon Sleep is free to download, so its success is measured in downloads and spending rather than copies sold. The Pokémon Company announced 10 million downloads on 25 August 2023, about six weeks after launch, 20 million on 25 June 2024 and 30 million on 27 April 2026. Its other milestones give a sense of the scale: 100 million Pokémon befriended by 15 September 2023, and about 3.9 billion hours of sleep tracked by the first anniversary. No official revenue figures have been published, but in July 2024 the app analytics firm AppMagic estimated that players had spent about US$100 million in the first year. Around US$73 million of that came from Japan, which also accounted for roughly 44% of downloads, against about US$15 million from the United States and US$4 million from Taiwan.

• 30mdownloads by 27 April 2026
• ~US$100mestimated player spending in year one
• 3.9bnhours of sleep tracked in the first year
• 100mPokémon befriended by 15 September 2023

Review scores

Few outlets reviewed Pokémon Sleep as a game, and many treated it as a wellness app instead, so it has never gathered enough critic reviews for a Metascore. Nintendo Life’s Joe Merrick admitted that “It’s really hard to put a score to a game like Pokémon Sleep” before settling on 7/10, while Pokémon GO Hub called it “a pleasant, cute game”.

The reviews that did appear agreed that the charm lies in the morning ritual of seeing which Pokémon turned up overnight, and in what poses. Merrick liked the adorable presentation, the range of sleep styles and the nudge towards a regular bedtime, but found the weekly routine repetitive, repeat sleep styles frustrating and the optional purchases expensive, if never required. Game8 enjoyed it as a relaxing collection game while marking it down as a sleep tracker and calling the Premium Pass overpriced, though it was warmer about the GO Plus +, and Pokémon GO Hub found it easy to fit into daily life, with only minor bugs. Players have been kinder still: it holds 4.5 out of 5 on the US App Store and 4.4 on Google Play.

Awards and honours:

Media & artwork

• Box art from Pokémon Sleep

Further reading

More Pokémon apps for phones and tablets on the site: