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A recent Reddit post by the user TheMemeOfTheDay commemorated the tenth anniversary of the popular player-controlled streaming series, Twitch Plays Pokemon. In the comments, plenty of fans shared some of their fondest and most chaotic memories of the TPP series. But what exactly was this streaming series, and why was it so popular?
To put things simply, Twitch Plays Pokemon was a social experiment created by an anonymous Australian programmer to determine if Twitch watchers could beat a Pocket Monsters game by using the Twitch chat and feeding commands into the game. The chaotic nature of the game, along with so many players inputting commands, resulted in a memorable experience, and fans did eventually complete their goal.
Fans discuss some of their favorite Twitch Plays Pokemon moments on its 10th anniversary
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Beginning on February 12, 2014, Twitch Plays Pokemon completed its first playthrough of the Red version of the game on March 1, 2024, after players entered and exited Twitch chat and input commands to control Red on the adventure for 16 straight days. Over 1.16 million players participated in the first experiment, and the peak simultaneous player count reached 121,000 fans.
Twitch Plays Pokemon earned the Guinness World Record for having the most participants in a single-player video game and also birthed a wide range of other spin-off series such as Twitch Plays Dark Souls, Twitch Plays QWOP, and Twitch Plays Runescape, among others. TPP was also eventually engineered to play later-gen Pocket Monsters games (and romhacks) and continues to function to this day.
Twitch Plays Pokemon's gameplay architecture also led to community-wide struggles among players, the most notable being the deadlock between fans to get TPP to choose between The Dome or Helix Fossil in Cerulean Cave, and with the latter fossil ultimately winning. The Helix Fossil and Omanyte/Omastar then became a meme among fans and a faux-divine icon to be praised.
The initial run has generated countless memories among its faithful, with many Twitch Plays Pokemon fans relishing in the unfettered chaos of the game. Nvertheless, the game was completed in a few weeks of constant gameplay, which certainly might feel like an accomplishment for fans who played regularly and often ran into hurdles either on the gameplay side or from the other player's inputs.
Although TPP continues to this day and has completed a vast catalog of Pocket Monsters games, the initial experiment is what truly created a cultural flashpoint. The experiment ultimately proved to be successful, proving the creator's original idea that even if played badly, it's nigh impossible to not make progress in the Pocket Monsters games.
Compared to its initial peak in 2014x the overall interest in Twitch Plays Pokemon eventually declined. But plenty of fans still visit the game's Twitch channel on occasion and continue to take part in the chat-based gameplay. Interestingly enough, TPP is also currently running through a gauntlet of Pocket Monsters games to signify its tenth anniversary.
Given this information, if Pocket Monsters players haven't given TPP a try until now, now may be a good time to check it out.
