How to Go Online and Play with Friends in Pokopia

While Pokemon Pokopia may seem like it’s primarily a single-player experience, it actually has a swathe of different multiplayer options. From playing online co-op through the main storyline, to its persistent creative Cloud Island experience, and a more limited GameShare multiplayer experience, Pokopia gives you a range of ways to enjoy this slice-of-life Pokemon game with other players, so let’s run through your options.

How to Play Local and Online Co-Op Multiplayer in Pokopia

To play multiplayer, you need to interact with the PC outside a Pokemon Center and select the Link Play option that appears.

You’ll then be given three different options:

• Invite Others to Visit: This allows players to join your world.
• Visit a Friend: Allows you to join another player’s world.
• Play on a Cloud Island: Cloud Islands are a persistent online world that you and friends can build in, regardless of whether the host is online. More on this option later.

Select the option you want, depending on what you’ve agreed with your friend, and then select the Online or Local connection option. If you’re in the same room, you can choose Local; if you’re not, you’ll want to choose the Online option.

Then you’ll need to decide whether the Link Code is displayed while playing with others, the number of players you want to play with, and whether you want Spectator Mode on. The first two are self-explanatory, but Spectator Mode disables the use of certain moves and items so that visiting players can’t mess too much with another player’s world.

After this is done, you can press + to confirm your decisions, and the online connection will be created. Your Link Code will be displayed on the screen, allowing you to share it with friends.

If you choose the ‘Visit a Friend’ option from the Link Play menu, after selecting Online, you’ll then need to enter the Link Code of the other player’s world. After entering this, you’ll then be able to join your friend’s game.

If you’re visiting a friend via a local connection, the game will automatically search for an open and available world nearby.

How to GameShare in Pokopia

Pokopia features a GameShare option that allows another player who doesn’t have a copy of the game to experience it off just your copy of the game. There are limitations that come with this, however, which we’ll run through below.

GameShare is only available once you’ve reached Palette Town to the west of the Withered Wasteland. This is unlocked naturally as you progress through the first few hours of the game.

After doing this, you’ll then be able to select the GameShare option from the ‘Invite Others to Visit’ option when interacting with the PC outside of a Pokemon Center and selecting the Link Play option.

You can then choose to play with nearby players, or via GameChat. Complete the session setup instructions and then you’ll be abale to invite players to the game.

For the other player, the process you need to follow depends on whether you’re playing online or locally.

If you’re GameSharing locally:

• Open the GameShare app from the home menu.
• Choose “join” when the Nintendo Switch 2 hosting Pokopia is found. The connection will be made and you can hop into the game.

If you’re GameSharing via GameChat:

• When you receive the notification to join a GameChat invitation, accept it.
• You’ll then need to accept another notification to join a GameShare invitation.

Pokopia GameShare Limitations

When you’re joining a session via GameShare, you won’t be able to craft or open the crafting table, interact with Pokemon, or change your Ditto’s appearance. You also can’t progress through the main storyline or explore the main islands. Consider it more of a taster of the general gameplay, rather than a proper co-op multiplayer experience.

However, you can use the various abilities that the host player has unlocked from other Pokemon, interact with the world, collect items placed in the world, drop and pick up soil blocks to help reach new areas (or tidy up the world), and eat food to restore your PP.

How to Create and Play Cloud Island Multiplayer in Pokopia

Finally, there’s the Cloud Island multiplayer mode. This allows players to create a persistent online island that you can share with friends and get creative together. It’s separate from the main storyline and gives players an area to hang out away from the main game areas.

To set up a Cloud Island, simply select it from the Link Cable menu at the PC. You can then create a new Cloud Island, set up a new one, or go to an existing one (as long as you have the Link Code or have visited it already).

After setting up a Cloud Island with your desired settings, you’ll be given a code you can share with friends, allowing them to join the island. If you’re visiting a Cloud Island set up by another player, you need to select the option to join an island and then enter this code.

As Cloud Islands are persistent, they don’t need the host to be online for other players to join.

Systems

Released

March 5, 2026

ESRB

Everyone / Users Interact, In-Game Purchases

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