Pokemon Sleep, new game that rewards users for sleeping, becomes a hit

Pokemon Go made thousands of people across the world roam outdoors catching Pokemon. The game made billions of dollars for the developers. The company behind the globally successful game is now trying to put people to sleep.

Enter Pokemon Sleep, a game that records and rewards you with a Pokemon as you sleep. Normally, you'd have to roam around and catch them.

Pokemon Sleep is developed by Japanese games studio Select Button Inc. The game is published by the Pokemon Co.

During the week starting July 16, Pokemon Sleep was the most downloaded game, according to numbers with mobile data analytics firm data.ai

The game crossed the 10 million downloads mark on Friday. It celebrated the milestone by offering some in-game items for free.

How to play Pokemon Sleep?

Players can play the game by sleeping with their smartphones closer to their heads. The game then keeps track of the vibrations sensed by the phone's sensors to make an estimate of the sleep quality.

The better are the sleep metrics, more creatures you collect.

There is also another way if you want to speed things up. The game is free-to-play but you can buy in-app items in order to befriend more Pokemon. If you buy a subscription, it comes with bonus sleep points.

"I really make an effort to go to sleep at my set bedtime, which I never did before," said Tomoki Toma (23) from Tokyo as quoted by Bloomberg.

Pokemon is a joint venture owned by Nintendo Co., Creatures Inc. and Game Freak Inc. The makers have said that they spent over four years on the game.

Buut media reports suggest that the interest in the game may also be waning. Not all players are happy about the game the outcome of which is determined when they are asleep.

"It's a lot of fun collecting different Pokemon, but the game does get a little repetitive after a while," said 22-year-old Tokyo resident Reina Watanabe as quoted by Boomberg.

"Pokemon Sleep is fun, but without the quintessential Pokemon battles, it just doesn't feel like you're playing a game," said Masamitsu Takahashi (30).