Magikarp Jump: Everything you need to know

The Pokémon Company has released a casual Pokémon game centered around Magikarp; here's everything you need to know!

If you're tired of walking around your city, trying to catch all the Pokémon in Pokémon GO, but are still looking to satisfy your Poké-thirst, you'll want to give the all-new Magikarp Jump a try.

If you're a player of the Pokémon series, you'll know that Magikarp is one of the lamest and most pathetic Pokémon in the entire series; however, if there is one thing Magikarp can do well, it's jump around like a fish out of water. If you're a Pokémon fan or even a casual game fan, there's a lot to love in this colorful and nostalgic little game. Plus, it's already picking up tons of five-star reviews; people seem to be enjoying the simplicity of Magikarp Jump! Here's everything you need to know about Magikarp Jump!

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The Objective

The objective in Magikarp Jump is quite simple: to train your Magikarp to jump higher than all the other Magikarp. You'll need to raise your Magikarp's Jump Power (JP) if you want to have a chance to win any competitions against one of the six jumping leagues. You'll train your Magikarp to gain jumping skills, feed it, so it grows stronger and bigger, and even enlist the help of some other familiar Pokémon along the way.

Fishing for a Magikarp

At the beginning of the game, Mayor Karp will have you fish for the Magikarp to train from the local pond. The first Magikarp you get doesn't leave you much of a choice; you have to keep it. Later in the game, you will have to fish for more Magikarp, but I'll touch on that a little later.

Feeding your Magikarp

Feeding your Magikarp is one of the main ways you can increase its JP and level. Food will appear on the home screen (which is the pond your Magikarp lives in), and by tapping on the food, your Magikarp will scarf it down. Each piece of food will grant your Magikarp a certain number of JP.

As your trainer level goes up, you will be able to purchase different food to feed your Magikarp. The higher the level you are, the better food you can buy. You can also use coins to upgrade the berries, which increases the amount of JP they give your Magikarp when consumed.

Training your Magikarp

Training your Magikarp is the other main way to increase its JP and level. Much like food, you start off with two different types of training — the jump counter and the sandbag slam — and each time you train, the training method will be random.

Training provides a much higher amount of JP than eating food does, but you can only train your Magikarp using training points. You have a maximum of three training points, which regenerate at a rate of one point per 30 minutes.

Just like food, as your trainer levels up, you will be able to purchase different types of training. The higher the level you are, the better training exercises you can buy. You can also use coins to upgrade your current training exercises, which will increase the amount of JP they give your Magikarp.

Random Encounters

Throughout the game, people will approach you and your Magikarp to talk, which will start a random encounter. Most random encounters will result in a positive outcome — like refreshing your training points or offering you some coins — but there are a couple that will have some negative impacts. There's nothing you can do to stop them, so just relax and go with the flow.

League Battles

After you have trained your Magikarp up a little bit, it's time to head to the league and battle other trainers for the title of Magikarp Training Master!

Battling is simulated for you; all you need to do is tell your Magikarp to jump, and it will Jump as high as it can! If it jumps higher than your opponent's Pokémon, you win.

Winning league battles is the best way to level up your trainer's rank, which will not only give you access to better items, food, and training exercises in town but also allows you to train future Magikarps to higher levels!

Retirement

When you have trained your Magikarp to its max level, the game will tell you it's time to win as many battles as possible before you retire Magikarp. You will then only be able to go through league battles until you lose.

Once you lose a battle with that maxed out Magikarp, you will retire the Pokémon and let it swim off into the sunset.

New Generation

After a Magikarp has retired, your job isn't done! You'll need to fish a new Magikarp out of the pond!

When you reel in a new Magikarp, you will notice that it has some bonuses attached to it — a motivation bonus and an individual bonus. The motivation bonus will be the same for every Magikarp, but the individual bonus will change, meaning you can spend diamonds to throw back the Magikarp and try again.

Diamonds are hard to come by in the game, but some Magikarp have some pretty sweet bonuses, so it's up to you to see if it's worth the 10 diamonds to throw it back.

Pikachu and other friendships

Friendships with other Pokémon give your Magikarp huge bonuses, but they require a lot of diamonds to purchase. Luckily, the game does give you a friendship with Pikachu after you have played for a while.

Pikachu can give your Magikarp a boost in battle by cheering (this will happen randomly) and also help you train him by encouraging Magikarp to push itself. If you swim up to Pikachu at the side of your pond, he will give your Magikarp a bunch of free JP! This ability does have a cooldown period of 90 minutes.

You can purchase new friendships from the diamond shop and also upgrade old friendships to reduce cooldown times. Not all Pokémon will grant as much JP as Pikachu does, so choose to spend your diamonds wisely!

Coins and Diamonds

Coins and Diamonds are the two currencies in Magikarp Jump, and they both play a major role.

Coins are relatively easy to find, and you'll get coins every time you beat a league battle and sometimes through random encounters. Coins are primarily used to buy and upgrade training exercises and food from the coin shop in town.

Diamonds are much harder to come by and are the premium currency in Magikarp Jump, meaning you can buy them with real money through an in-app purchase. You will get some diamonds as you go throughout the game every time your trainer rank goes up. Diamonds are used to buy decorations and friendships from the diamond shop in town.

What else do you need to know?

Let us know in the comments below!

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