Some of my favorite things to do are to sleep and play video games, so when I heard about Select Button's new app Pokemon Sleep, I was immediately intrigued. Like Pokemon Go, Sleep will be free-to-play on mobile devices, but whereas Go was played while walking, your primary means of interaction here is done by sleeping. Rather than battling other Pokemon or trying to be the best trainer, Pokemon Sleep focuses on collecting as many Pokemon as possible by, as the name suggests, getting a healthy amount of sleep. I was able to test out the app for myself for a night, and I thought it was a great way to help those who struggle to sleep get a good night's rest. There's even a narrative reason for why you'll need to be sleeping.

In Pokemon Sleep, you'll be working alongside Professor Neroli, who's studying the habits of Pokemon with a specific interest in a group of Snorlax on a chain of islands. These Snorlax have a mysterious power that puts nearby Pokemon to sleep, so to help further his studies, Professor Neroli creates a device called Sleep Synchronizer, which syncs the affected Pokemon's sleep with yours. After waking up from a night of sleep, you'll be greeted with a few Pokemon that can join your party to help grow the Snorlax to help further understand why these Pokemon are falling asleep. Each week, you'll visit a different island with a new Snorlax that will have their own favorite berries and dishes you can feed them, boosting their ability to put more Pokemon to sleep.

Once you're ready to sleep, you press a button and place your phone next to you in bed with the screen facing down, and it will begin to track your sleep via your breathing. For the app to work, your phone must be on a bed or pillow because if it is placed on a hard surface, it won't work. You're actively encouraged to sleep more because when you wake up, you'll receive a "Sleep Score." The closer you get to a full eight and a half hours of sleep, the more points you'll receive. But if you're someone who likes to take multiple naps throughout the day, you sadly can't use shorter naps to make any progress. Though the game allows players to log up to two sleep sessions a day, the app only tracks those lasting longer than 90 minutes.