Pikmin 3

Pikmin 3 opens with three space explorers on a mission to find food for their starving home planet, Koppai. After crash landing on planet PNF-404, the explorers enlist the help of tiny alien creatures called pikmin to solve puzzles, defeat aggressive aliens, and collect materials to repair their ship. They also use the pikmin to collect food, which they can bring back to their home planet.

As the three explorers travel through PNF-404, they discover diaries left behind by Captain Olimar, the protagonist of Pikmin and Pikmin 2.

There are several different kinds of pikmin, and they each have strengths and weaknesses. The blue pikmin, for example, can go into water, which kills other pikmin.


All of the Pikmin games feature time limits. You are given only a handful of minutes to complete your tasks, after which time night falls and any pikmin left behind will be eaten by the wildlife. It can be pretty gut-wrenching to watch your adorable pikmin die, though there is no gore.

Overall, though, these games are exceptional for teaching strategy and multitasking. The player fills a role similar to that of a project manager, as they must keep track of what all of their forces are doing at any given time.

Pikmin 3 also features a competitive local multiplayer mode and a cooperative local multiplayer mode.

Players can take in-game photos and upload them to Nintendo's Miiverse. The game itself cannot be played online.

• Was there ever a situation in which you found it necessary to sacrifice a few pikmin to save the rest? How did that make you feel?
• Did the time limit make you nervous? Did that make it harder or easier to do well in the game?
• Do you think the astronauts were being cruel when they had the pikmin doing their labor? Or were they just doing what they had to do to survive?
• How did you solve that puzzle?
• What's another situation in which you might have to manage groups of workers like this?