Nuzlockes are the bread and butter of the Pokemon challenge community. They’ve been around for a good while now, but they’ve been steadily getting trickier and trickier.
Have you ever tried a Nuzlocke before? A Nuzlocke is a type of challenge run that you can do in a Pokemon game, which adds extra-hard rules and stipulations. They exist to make Pokemon games more difficult and can be a lot of fun to play through.
This challenge run format has become much more popular in recent years thanks to content creators and community forums coming up with unique variants and even trickier rule sets. But how hard actually is it to complete a Nuzlocke?
What is a Nuzlocke?
In a Nuzlocke, if a Pokemon faints, then you can never use it again (it’s considered dead), and you may only catch one mon per route.
There are some additional rules that Nuzlockes tend to include, like mandatory Pokemon nicknames. This makes it much more devastating when a Pokemon faints and exits the run for good, and often streamers will name Pokemon after people in the chat, adding to the sadness even more.
Nuzlockes come from a 2010 webcomic made by Nick Franco, and the name originates from a drawing of a Nuzleaf with the face of John Locke from the TV show Lost. Yeah, we’re not sure either – but it is a catchy name for a challenge.
Nuzlockes have changed over the last few years, though, generally getting much more difficult over time as community members strive to challenge themselves even further.
One point that was made recently by Nuzlocke fans in r/nuzlocke on Reddit is that there’s been a stronger focus on stricter healing rules in recent months.
Rules like ‘no healing items in battle’ and ‘no Pokemon Center visits’ weren’t as common when Nuzlockes started becoming popular, but they’re much more frequently seen nowadays. Not using items in battle is a big part of the Hardcore Nuzlocke rule set.
For those unfamiliar with the Hardcore variant, the rules are as follows:
- If a Pokemon faints, it’s gone forever
- Only one Pokemon may be encountered per route
- Nicknames are mandatory
- No items may be used in battle – held items, and Poke Balls are the only exception
- The game must be played on Set mode
- Players may not out-level the Gym Leader/Rival’s Ace
As you might imagine, these rules make Nuzlocke runs much trickier. Not being able to out-level means players need to focus on EXP management, which is a skill that takes time to develop.
Some Nuzlocke players, like popular YouTuber FlygonHG, follow the rule variant where the level cap ends when you are fighting the Gym Leader/Rival’s first Pokemon.
For example, suppose the Gym Leader has 3 Pokemon, with two of them being level 12 and one of them (the Ace) being level 15. If you start the fight with a level 15 Pokemon and it levels up during the fight, that’s alright, and you can continue with the run.
Speaking of YouTubers, a large number of the changes that have happened in the Nuzlocke community recently are thanks to the creative ideas that content creators put out.
Ideas like community Egglockes, for example, are a lot of fun and put an interesting twist on the standard Nuzlocke format. These runs get users or other content creators to send in random Pokemon eggs, which the player must build their team from.
Other popular variants include Characterlockes (e.g., can I beat the game with Ash Ketchum’s team?) or Monolockes, which feature only one type of Pokemon.
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How difficult is it to complete a Nuzlocke?
For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume we’re speaking about a standard Nuzlocke for now – with one random capture per route, insta-death rules, and mandatory names.
Aside from the obvious interference of RNG, there are two major elements that determine how difficult a Nuzlocke is. The first is which title you’re choosing to play through.
If you’re an experienced Pokemon player who wants to try a Nuzlocke for the first time, it’s widely accepted that Fire Red and Leaf Green are great starter games.
They’re approachable enough without any extra mechanics or gimmicks, but they still present a decent challenge and will require some upfront planning.
For absolute beginners who’ve never played Pokemon, though, Pokemon Sword & Shield is a solid duo to pick from. These games are not difficult, and they have plenty of features to help players out in battle, so they’re ideal for people who are just getting started.
The second major factor that affects how tricky your run can be is how much planning you’ve done before getting started on the playthrough.
Pre-planning a playthrough may sound dull if you’ve never done it before, but it’s essential for success, especially if you’ve got limited experience with Nuzlockes. Of course, you can’t pre-plan your team, as the Pokemon selection is random. You can analyze the Gym Leaders and plan your fights beforehand, though.
Many community forums and Subreddits have documents or threads specifically made for players to use when running through a Nuzlocke, like this Sword & Shield rule set.
Despite the random nature of encounters in a Nuzlocke, you can somewhat secure encounters in the late game by looking up a full encounter table for the relevant route. Bulbapedia is great for this.
Let’s suppose you want a Ponyta, for example, but there’s a chance of getting a Bidoof on the same route. Catching a Bidoof in the early game means that Bidoof encounters in the late game are not valid, so this gives a higher chance of getting a Ponyta.
There is no requirement to plan like this, though. It’s a self-led challenge, after all, so if you’d prefer to play through the game blind and test your luck, you should absolutely try that out.
Determining how tricky a Nuzlocke is comes down to the chosen game, the level of planning, and, of course, plenty of luck and RNG as well. Generally speaking, though, Nuzlockes are much harder than the mainline games, and it’s almost unheard of to complete them on your first go.
One of the best things about self-led challenges is that you can change the rules or alter your direction whenever you please. If a Hardcore Nuzlocke stops being fun for you halfway through? Drop it! Try something else out instead, like a Monolocke or a Characterlocke.
All in all, Nuzlockes are pretty tricky. They require a deep understanding of weaknesses and resistances in the Pokemon game, a willingness to do the same thing over and over again, and the ability to think on your feet when Plan A goes out the window.
That’s not to say that they’re not enjoyable, though. If you’re a diehard Pokemon fan who can run through a mainline game in a few days without blinking, trying out a Nuzlocke could be the best way to liven up the Pokemon experience for you.
