New Pokémon game released in surprise drop, but it's not what you'd expect

In a surprise reveal, a brand new Pokémon game was shown off for the first time, shadow dropping during the presentation – though, unfortunately, it's probably not what many people were expecting.

Pokémon Friends is a brand new puzzle game, available right now on Nintendo Switch consoles and mobiles.

It features a series of brain teasers, such as connecting a set of lightbulbs with one line, or connecting tiles in a certain order to allow water or a mine cart to pass through them.

Billed with the tagline 'Eureka Every Day!', the game challenges players to "solve puzzles and get your daily 'aha' moment!".

By completing puzzles, you'll unlock Pokémon plushes that you can use to decorate rooms in-game.

Although the advert appears targeted at players of all ages, it seems to be a game that is largely aimed at children as a means of stimulating their brains a bit more than your bog-standard mobile game.

It's the latest in a series of Pokémon-themed mobile games to release in recent years, including Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon Café ReMix, both of which had new updates teased as part of today's presentation.

It's far from the first Pokémon puzzler to come around, with the likes of Pokémon Puzzle League, Pokémon Trozei and Pokémon Picross sure to live rent-free in the minds of many, but it's probably not what many fans were hoping for today.

Thankfully, we did get some brief news on the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A, as well as a confirmed release date for Stadium-like Pokémon Champions.

All we really need, though, is for them to remake Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.

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