For more on Pokemon Art Academy, check out our full Pokemon Art Academy review. Or, for more of the best Nintendo 3DS games for a 10 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
What is Pokemon Art Academy?
Perfect for Pokefans and budding artists alike, Pokemon Art Academy talks you through step-by-step lessons on how to draw all your favourite characters. With lessons that take you from simple colouring-ins, to drawing your own cutesy pictures of Pikachu, all the way up to some seriously fancy sketches of Charizard, its drawing courses will have you feeling like Van Gogh in no time - even if you've got all the artistic talent of a dead fish. By gradually introducing each new technique, then practising it in the related mini lessons, you'll be drawing brilliant Bulbasaurs in no time.
How do you play Pokemon Art Academy?
Lessons start off simply enough, having you draw a primitive pastel portrait of a Pikachu. From there, you start to trace outlines and colour them in - before too long, you'll be making your own outlines, working from 'construction shapes' (those simple circles and lines that act as a guide), and shading like a pro. Covering a number of different drawing styles as you go along, from watercolour-esque paintings, to comic-book style, to smudgy pastel pictures, each finished picture has a professional looking background added behind it, and is placed on a (virtual) Pokemon card for all to see.
How easy is Pokemon Art Academy to pick up and play?
While the idea of a game about drawing may seem a little bit intimidating, Pokemon Art Academy is actually incredibly easy going. Even if you aren't very good at drawing (and we still struggle with some of the more intricate details and complex effects), you don't get marked for your efforts, so you're free to doodle around as you'd like. Your Pokemon-drawing companion Lee is also great for comic relief, thanks to his appalling artistic skills, which will make anybody look like the next Da Vinci by comparison - and should help give young artists a bit of confidence in their drawings, as they can never be worse than Lee.
For the youngest of players, in order to properly follow the instructions, a pretty decent reading ability is a must. That said, seeing as Professor Andy does give you a little video tutorial, and the picture on the top screen shows what you need to do, you may be able to fumble your way through regardless.
Being a game about drawing Pokemon, nothing in Pokemon Art Academy is at all questionable - no gore, no sex, and no bad language whatsoever.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Nintendo 3DS
