Play Pokemon Ranger - Guardian Signs (EU) Online

Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs came out on the Nintendo DS in 2010, developed by Creatures and published by Nintendo. It was part of that era where the DS was full of unique spin-offs that really used the touch screen, and this one was all about drawing your way through adventures instead of the usual turn-based battles.

You play as a Pokemon Ranger tasked with protecting the Oblivia region, controlling your character with the D-pad while using the stylus to capture wild Pokemon by drawing loops around them on the touch screen. Your main goal is to calm a series of giant Pokemon causing trouble, and you do this by capturing helper Pokemon to use their field abilities, like cutting through obstacles or dousing fires, and later by calling upon Legendary Pokemon for major boss fights. The pacing is steady, with a mix of exploration, light puzzle solving, and capture sequences that can get frantic when faster Pokemon break your loops. It feels satisfying to build a temporary team on the fly and use their skills to push forward through each area.