When it comes down to it, most video games are elaborate exercises in time management. Every time you fail a tough challenge in a game, you don’t just lose in-game resources (lives, items, stats, physical progress on the map, etc.); you also lose the real-world time you put into that attempt.
The hours you put into a game are the only truly irreplaceable resource you’re putting at risk. And you don’t have to be a professional speedrunner to want to spend that time wisely. That usually means getting through the game’s challenges and goals as quickly as possible (while nonetheless savoring the game’s characters, story, and environments, of course).
Pikmin 4 is more explicit than most games about making sure the player is making the most of every in-game second. The game is constantly hectoring you to maximize your “dandori,” basically a fancy word for multitasking. If you’re not constantly splitting your dozens of flower-like Pikmin into three or four separate groups—each with its own separate subtask—the game goes out of its way to make you feel like a time-wasting slacker who, ironically, spends too much time stopping to smell the flowers.
The whole thing should be stressful. But there’s something surprisingly endearing about Pikmin 4‘s chill version of multitasking that kept me eagerly coming back for more gentle lessons in efficiency.
Hurry up and wait
If you’ve played previous Pikmin games, you know the basic structure here. Your minuscule, space-suited character (which now comes with a fully customizable look) has to plant and harvest an army of flower-topped Pikmin, which follow you around in groups of up to 100 at once.
As in the past, throwing a Pikmin recruits them into context-dependent tasks like gathering resources, collecting treasures, breaking down walls, building bridges, or attacking enemies. A lone Pikmin can’t do too much on its own, but assigning dozens of the right type of Pikmin to the right task can make short work of even tough obstacles.
Usually, there’s nothing technically stopping you from assigning a small cadre of Pikmin to a task and then patiently standing around and waiting for them to complete it before moving on. That said, the game also goes out of its way to encourage you to make better use of your time, chastising through character dialogue and on-screen messages to keep increasing that “dandori.”
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Why are you just standing around watching the Pikmin work? Go do something else!
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The whistle means it’s time to get back to work!
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Slackers.
The map designs (which feel like something straight out of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) gently encourage this, too, presenting a series of tantalizing nearby tasks to complete while a few-dozen Pikmin are on a time-consuming quest, like dragging a treasure back to base. Moving your bases to more convenient places on that map and setting up ramps that act as shortcuts to newly accessed areas are also key parts of maximizing your Pikmin efficiency.
Unfortunately, the game isn’t too well-optimized for managing multiple distinct groups of Pikmin from afar. The most notable omission is a mini-map; without it, I found myself constantly jumping into the pause menu to figure out how to find and manage distinct groups of Pikmin spread around the complex layered environments.
The other main issue is the Pikmin’s general lack of autonomy. When a group of Pikmin finishes a task, they simply stand around waiting for new orders. That can be a problem if you’ve gone halfway across the map to start another group of Pikmin on a separate task (or if a previously unseen enemy starts eating Pikmin that can’t be bothered to defend themselves).