Nintendo and Niantic have released a browser-based Pikmin AR game

Nintendo and Niantic have released a simple browser-based AR game called Pikmin Finder.

Available for camera-equipped mobiles and tablets, the free game challenges players to locate AR Pikmin in their home or immediate surrounding.

Depending on the time of day, players will be able to find different types of Pikmin. Once found, the plant-like creatures can be plucked from the ground with a swipe of a finger and can then be followed as they retrieve different ‘treasures’ located nearby.

According to Nintendo Life, Pikmin Finder was released to coincide with Nintendo Live in Seattle and it was geared toward those attending the event.

Pikmin 4 was released for Switch in July and a demo is available on the Nintendo eShop.

VGC’s Pikmin 4 review called the franchise’s first mainline instalment in a decade “a smart and content-packed refinement of one of Nintendo’s most underrated series”, although it added that “long-time fans may be put off by how long its generous campaign takes to get going”.

Asked if it would be possible to not make fans wait so long for the next entry in the series, Pikmin 4 producer Takashi Tezuka recently told Eurogamer: “I think that would be best as well. We’ll try not to let everyone wait.”