Games Like Pokémon Go! For Collectors and Explorers

If you’re searching for mobile games like Pokémon Go, you’re probably chasing that same little hit of magic. The one where a normal walk turns into a mini adventure, your phone buzzes, and suddenly you’re hunting something rare behind the next corner.

I’ve played a lot of location-based games, and the best ones all nail the same feeling. They give you a reason to go outside, they make your neighborhood feel new, and they keep the loop simple enough that you can jump in for five minutes or lose an entire afternoon.

In this list, I’m sticking to mobile games that scratch the Pokémon Go itch in different ways. Some focus on collecting. Some go harder on battles or exploration. A few are better if you want something more chill, or less dependent on big crowds.

Quick List

1. Ingress Prime

Niantic’s original real world map game where you fight over “Portals” and paint the map with huge team triangles.

You pick a faction (Enlightened or Resistance), walk to real locations called Portals, then hack them for gear, deploy upgrades, attack enemy Portals, and link Portals together to form Control Fields that claim territory and score Mind Units for your team.

How Ingress Prime is like Pokémon Go:
✅ Real world map gameplay where walking to points of interest is the whole loop
✅ Team choice matters and affects what you can do at locations
✅ Stops and “gyms” vibes, since Portals are your core destinations for items and control
❌ No creature collecting or raids, it’s way more about territory control and long term team ops
❌ More hardcore and social coordination heavy, big plays can involve planning links across a whole city (or more)

2. Pikmin Bloom

A super chill walking game where you grow cute little Pikmin, send them out to grab stuff, and slowly decorate your real world map with flowers.

You walk around with the app open, your steps grow new Pikmin sprouts, and you can pluck them to add to your squad. Then you send your Pikmin on little expeditions to pick up fruit, postcards, and other goodies from nearby places. The big daily loop is planting flowers while you walk, which leaves a trail on the map and helps you level up.

How Pikmin Bloom is like Pokémon Go
✅ Uses your real world location and rewards walking around
✅ Lots of “go to places, get stuff” energy with nearby points of interest
✅ Steady collection loop, since you keep adding new little buddies to your roster
❌ No battling or gym control, it’s more of a cozy pedometer game
❌ Way less competitive, it’s mostly about collecting, decorating the map, and daily routines

3. Monster Hunter Now

Pokémon Go style walking, but the payoff is real time monster fights where you dodge, tap-combo, and slam big weapon specials like you’re in a lightweight Monster Hunter boss battle.

You wander the map and spot monsters and resource nodes around you. When you jump into a hunt, it’s quick and skill-based. You dodge at the right moment, aim for weak spots, and try to finish the fight fast. Beating monsters gets you parts, then you use those to forge and upgrade weapons and armor, which is the whole long-term obsession loop. It also pushes co-op hunts, since tougher monsters go down way faster with other people nearby.

How Monster Hunter Now is like Pokémon Go
✅ Real world map gameplay where you walk to find encounters
✅ Quick sessions that fit into errands, like “see something, tap it, play a minute”
✅ Co-op vibe for bigger targets, similar to raiding with others
❌ The core fun is action combat and gear grinding, not collecting lots of different creatures
❌ More demanding moment-to-moment, you can’t really half-pay-attention during fights

4. Jurassic World Alive

Pokémon Go, but with dinos. You roam your real world map, collect dinosaur DNA, then build a team for arena battles and wild events.

You walk to find dinosaurs on the map, then “dart” them with a little drone-style mini game to grab DNA. That DNA is your main progression fuel: you level dinos up, fuse them into hybrids, and keep tuning a battle squad that actually has some strategy to it. The endgame vibe is PvP arenas, limited-time events, and hunting specific DNA spawns to finish a build.

How Jurassic World Alive is like Pokémon Go
✅ Real world map exploration and nearby spawns are the main loop
✅ Collecting tons of creatures and chasing rare ones feels very familiar
✅ Events push you to go out and play at certain times, like community days
❌ Battles are more team strategy and matchups, not tap-and-dodge skill fights
❌ Progress is more about DNA farming and hybrids than simple collecting and powering up one favorite

5. Orna: The GPS RPG

A full-on old-school RPG that uses your real location, where your neighborhood becomes your grind spot for monsters, loot, bosses, and kingdoms.

You walk around and the map fills with enemies, dungeons, bosses, and buildings. Fights are turn-based, so it’s more about smart builds than twitch reflexes. The big hook is progression depth: you pick a class, unlock new ones, stack gear bonuses, and chase rarer drops. There’s also a social layer with kingdoms (guilds), group raids, and territory control, so it can turn into a “take over your area” kind of game if you get into it.

How Orna: The GPS RPG is like Pokémon Go
✅ Uses GPS and real world movement to find stuff to fight and farm
✅ Lots of “walk around, check spawns, hop into quick battles” rhythm
✅ Raids and group play give you that shared target feeling
❌ Way more RPG-heavy with classes, gear stats, and build planning
❌ Not really a creature collector, it’s more loot, levels, and character power growth

6. Zombies, Run!

A story-driven running app that turns your jog into a zombie movie, with missions, voice acting, and “uh oh they’re behind you” chases.

You pick a mission, put on headphones, and go run or walk. While you move, you hear a radio drama playing out like you’re part of a survivor crew. Every so often, you get prompts to speed up because zombies are “closing in,” which is a sneaky way to push you harder. Between runs, you can build up your base with the supplies you “collected” during missions, but the real hook is the narrative and motivation to keep going.

How Zombies, Run! is like Pokémon Go
✅ Gets you outside and moving with real-world activity as the main input
✅ Short sessions you can do daily, with progress that carries over
❌ No map exploration loop, you are not hunting nearby spawns or points of interest
❌ Not a collecting and battling game, it’s fitness plus story with light base building

7. Geocaching

The real-world treasure hunt app. You use GPS to find hidden containers placed by other people, then log your find like you’re checking off quests in the real world.

You open the map, pick a cache nearby, and navigate to it. At the spot, you search around for a hidden container, sign the logbook, and record it in the app. Some caches are quick “grab and go,” others are puzzles or multi-step hunts that send you to several locations. Progress is basically your finds, your stats, and the growing list of places you’ve explored.

How Geocaching is like Pokémon Go
✅ GPS-based exploring where your real location is the whole game
✅ “Go to a spot, do a thing, log it” feels like spinning stops and completing tasks
✅ Great excuse to walk new routes and check out random parks and corners
❌ No battling, leveling up monsters, or power progression loop
❌ Slower pace and more effort per “win,” since you’re physically searching and solving stuff

8. Magic Streets

A medieval fantasy GPS RPG where your neighborhood turns into an open-world map full of monsters, dungeons, loot, and towns.

You walk around and see things like enemies, chests, resource spots, traders, and dungeons on the map, then jump into turn-based fights to earn gear and progress your hero. It’s more “RPG grind and builds” than “quick catch sessions,” and it leans into long-term progression with upgrades, crafting stations, and multiplayer stuff like guilds and boss raids depending on how deep you go.

How Magic Streets is like Pokémon Go
✅ GPS map exploration, your real location drives what you can do
✅ Points of interest feel like your daily route checklist (spots to visit, stuff to tap)
✅ Social play exists if you want it, with multiplayer and group activities
❌ Not a creature collector, it’s a single-character RPG with loot and builds
❌ Combat is turn-based, so it’s more planning than reflex gameplay

9. Peridot

Niantic’s AR virtual pet game where you hatch a “Dot,” raise it, and take it on walks like a cute little buddy that lives in your phone.

You go outside with your Dot, interact with it in AR, and keep it happy by feeding, playing, and doing little activities together. The long-term hook is growing your Dot up and then breeding to hatch new Dots with different looks and traits, so it becomes a “raise, bond, collect variants” loop instead of battling.

How Peridot is like Pokémon Go
✅ Real world walking is the main input
✅ AR creatures in your environment, with that Niantic map vibe
✅ Collection chase, since you end up wanting more Dots and different traits
❌ No gyms, raids, or competitive battling as the core loop
❌ More pet care and bonding, less “hunt spawns all day” energy

10. Draconius GO: Catch a Dragon!

A fantasy GPS monster catcher where you roam the real map, grab eggs and creatures, and build up a magical collection with some PvP on the side.

You walk around to find creatures and points of interest, snag eggs, hatch new monsters, then power them up through upgrades and evolutions. The vibe is very “go outside, tap stuff, grow your roster,” with extra RPG flavor like different creature types and battling other people when you want a challenge.

How Draconius GO: Catch a Dragon! is like Pokémon Go
✅ Real world map exploration and nearby spawns
✅ Catch and collection loop, with hatching as a big hook
✅ Events and points of interest keep your daily route feeling useful
❌ Smaller cultural footprint and fewer “everyone’s playing” moments
❌ More fantasy creature focus and PvP duels, less gym/raid meta nostalgia

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