Twitch Plays Pokémon (TPP) is a social experiment and live streaming channel on the website Twitch. It involves a group effort to play Pokémon video games by reading messages sent by viewers in the chat room. It holds the Guinness World Record for having "the most users to input a command to play a live streamed video game," with 1,165,140 participants.

The idea was created by an anonymous programmer from Australia and started on February 12, 2014, with the game Pokémon Red. The stream became very popular, averaging more than 80,000 people watching at the same time (with at least 10% participating). On March 1, 2014, the game was completed after more than 16 days of continuous play. Twitch estimated that over 1.16 million people participated, with a peak of 121,000 people sending commands at once, and 55 million total views during the experiment. On December 5, 2014, Twitch Plays Pokémon won a Game Award in the "Best Fan Creation" category.

The experiment gained interest from media outlets and Twitch staff because of its interactivity, unpredictable nature, the challenges faced by players due to the system's mechanics, and the community and memes created by participants. Twitch used the experiment to test ways to make streaming more interactive for viewers and expand its services. After finishing Pokémon Red, the broadcaster continued the channel with other Pokémon games and unofficial ROM hacks. The broadcaster plans to keep playing more Pokémon games as long as viewers remain interested. The success of the experiment led to similar Twitch streams for other games and encouraged Twitch to promote more interactive streams for viewers.

Premise

Inspired by a similar interactive game called Salty Bet, where users bet pretend money on outcomes of random M.U.G.E.N. matches, the system used in the stream was created by an anonymous Australian programmer known as the "Streamer." The system includes a computer program written in Python called an IRC bot and a Game Boy emulator named VisualBoyAdvance. This program collects specific messages from the stream's chat room, such as directional commands, "B," "A," "select," and "start," and sends them to the emulator as button presses, allowing users to control the game. A separate program using JavaScript displays a live count of moves made during the stream.

The Streamer selected Pokémon Red and Blue for the project because of nostalgia for early games, the game's ability to allow progress even when played poorly, and its turn-based structure, which is easier to manage compared to other game types. The Streamer used a modified version of the game that allows access to all 151 original Pokémon, aiming to complete the Pokédex. However, this version was incomplete and did not change gameplay compared to the original.

The system's control method has made the game harder and longer to play than usual. A writer from Ars Technica noted that the character often gets stuck, walks in circles, and repeatedly checks the Pokédex and saves. Too many commands from chat users overwhelm the game, making progress difficult. Challenges include navigating maze-like areas, accidentally losing Pokémon (such as an event called "Bloody Sunday," where twelve Pokémon were lost while trying to obtain Zapdos), and users sending "start" commands to open menus repeatedly. A system was added to slow down "start" button inputs to reduce these issues.

Despite the challenges, players have worked together using tools like charts and scripts that hide chat messages to communicate effectively. This coordination was needed to complete tasks requiring teamwork, as earlier attempts without it missed key opportunities. A program was also created to identify users intentionally slowing progress.

The Streamer later worked with others to develop tools for the Twitch channel, including live commentary. However, due to conflicts within the group, the Streamer stepped down as lead on November 22, 2017, and another collaborator took over.

Progression and further games

On February 18, 2014, after players faced challenges with a puzzle in the Team Rocket hideout, a new feature called Democracy mode was added to make the game easier to play. When Democracy mode was first introduced, all player actions were decided by a vote. Inputs from players over a set time (usually 30 seconds) were counted, and the most common action was carried out after that time. Players could also add numbers to their commands, such as "right3," to repeat an action three times. Many players were upset with this change, and protests happened in the Twitch chat. Some players used the command "start9" to slow down progress by opening and closing the pause menu nine times. This event became known as "The start9 protests." Later, the broadcaster changed the system so players could vote to switch between two modes: "Anarchy," the original default, and "Democracy." To change to Democracy mode, a supermajority vote was needed, while a majority vote was enough to switch back to Anarchy mode. This change was seen as controversial because some players believed Democracy mode went against the original idea of the stream and reduced the randomness that helped shape the story and themes of the game.

After completing Pokémon Red, a new game began on March 2, 2014, with Pokémon Crystal. The developer planned to start Pokémon Emerald on a specific date, but players finished Crystal earlier than expected. When Crystal was used, the voting system changed: Democracy mode was automatically enabled every hour. By March 14, 2014, players reached a major battle on Mt. Silver against Red, a trainer representing the player from Red and Blue. The game was modified so Red’s team included the same Pokémon that had defeated the Elite Four in the Pokémon Red playthrough. The developer explained that this change matched Game Freak’s original idea for Crystal, where players would face Red using the Pokémon they had finished Red with. Crystal was completed on March 15, taking more than 13 days of playtime. The developer noted that fewer people watched Crystal compared to Red, but he planned to continue the stream with other games as long as there was interest.

Pokémon Emerald began on March 21, 2014. Initially, Democracy mode was turned off entirely. Emerald was restarted many times due to its soft reset feature, but the broadcaster later fixed this issue.

When the stream shifted to Pokémon X, the first game in the franchise for the Nintendo 3DS, the setup changed. At the time, there was no PC-based emulator for the 3DS, so the stream used real 3DS hardware modified with a device called the 3DS Streaming Console with External Control Interface (3xtDS), created by a Reddit user named dekuNukem (also known as Twitch_plays_3ds). This modification allowed direct control of the 3DS through a USB connection and enabled video capture. Using native hardware also allowed the stream to use the 3DS’s Wi-Fi features, letting other players of Pokémon X and Y interact with the stream’s player through Nintendo Network. This included online battles, trades, and O-Powers. After Pokémon X was released, the stream also played Pokémon Omega Ruby.

To mark the one-year anniversary of the original Pokémon Red playthrough, a new run of Pokémon Red began in February 2015. The goal was to complete the game’s main story and catch all 151 Pokémon, which players achieved in about 39 days.

For the project’s fourth anniversary, the channel started a simultaneous playthrough of both Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. Players could specify which game their commands applied to, but otherwise, commands were used alternately between the two games. When Democracy mode was active, the same command was used in both games.

As the experiment entered its fifth year, the channel began using fan-created modifications of the Pokémon games after all official games were completed.

To celebrate six years of continuous streaming, the channel played a series of six games in a row.

Viewership

The stream began on February 12, 2014, as a test to see if the idea would work. At first, very few people watched the stream for the first day and a half. However, the stream became very popular after that. By February 14, the stream had about 175,000 viewers when the players defeated the first of eight Gym leaders. By February 17, the channel had more than 6.5 million total views. By February 20, the channel had over 17 million total views, with between 60,000 and 70,000 people watching at the same time. At least 10% of viewers participated in the stream. By then, the players had caught 12 different Pokémon and passed the fourth gym. When the game "Red" was completed, the channel had 36 million total views, with a peak of 120,000 people watching at the same time. About 658,000 people participated in the stream. The "Red" stream was later recognized by the Guinness World Records for having the most users who typed a command to play a live-streamed video game, with 1,165,140 participants. The high level of activity on the stream caused very heavy (and unexpected) pressure on Twitch's chat system. Engineers had to move the stream's chat to a stronger server usually used during major e-sports events while working to improve the system's ability to handle more users. The developer said, "I didn't think it would become this popular. I expected only a small group of dedicated viewers and others would watch briefly before moving on. It's surprising how many people have joined."

Community

A group of players formed online communities, such as Reddit, where they posted updates in real-time and created memes and other creative content about events in the game. One item in the player's inventory at the start of the game was the Helix Fossil, which was later used to revive the Pokémon Omanyte but had no other purpose. The Helix Fossil was chosen so often by players that it became a joke among them. At times, players humorously called it a god that the character consulted for advice, and it became a shared belief system. Some players even treated the fossil as a symbol for a group that supported Anarchy mode, while its counterpart, the Dome Fossil (used to revive Kabuto), was seen as a symbol for those who supported Democracy mode. Fans created books for the belief system centered around the Helix Fossil.

Several Pokémon captured by the player during the game also became popular among fans. Two Pokémon, Charmeleon and Rattata, were obtained early in the game but were later accidentally released. These Pokémon were nicknamed "Abby" and "Jay Leno." The team's Pidgeot, one of the strongest Pokémon in the group, was nicknamed "Bird Jesus" by the community. The team's Zapdos was nicknamed "AA-j" but was also called "Archangel of Justice" or "Anarchy Bird." Their Flareon was nicknamed "False Prophet" because players accidentally obtained it instead of Vaporeon, which was needed to learn the "Surf" move. This mistake later caused the release of Charmeleon and Rattata. On the eleventh day of the event (23 February), which was a Sunday, players accidentally released a dozen captured Pokémon, removing them from the game. This event became known as "Bloody Sunday." The tradition of giving nicknames continued in the game's Crystal version, which included a new Pidgeot nicknamed "Brian" and a Feraligatr nicknamed "Lazorgator."

Reception

Media outlets have described the game's events as "very interesting," "amazing," and "exciting and confusing at the same time." One viewer compared it to "watching a car crash in slow motion." Ars Technica said the event showed "the best and worst parts of a time when people enjoy new and unusual things," offering many hours of entertainment that some people might consider a waste of time. The stream was compared to the infinite monkey theorem, which suggests that even random actions in a game can still lead to some progress. Matthew DiPietro, Twitch's vice president of marketing, praised the stream, saying it was "another example of how video games have become a way to enjoy and create new things that goes far beyond what the game's creators originally planned." By combining a video game, live video, and a participatory experience, the broadcaster created a mix of different types of entertainment that was designed especially for the Twitch community. This is a good example that shows something can work and that the company hopes to see more of in the future.

Legacy

Twitch Plays Pokémon has inspired similar projects using other video games, such as Pokémon Blue, QWOP, Tetris (including one that used the same commands from the original Twitch Plays Pokémon stream), Street Fighter II, Halo: Combat Evolved (which became much harder because it is a first-person shooter), Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Dark Souls, Fallout 3, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Teamfight Tactics, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Go (which used fake location data to move a character as viewers gave commands), and Microsoft Flight Simulator. Similar Twitch Plays experiments have also been used to care for a virtual pet Tamagotchi and to install Arch Linux on a virtual machine using text commands, one letter at a time. Inspired by this, an experimental "Stock Stream" began in May 2017, allowing Twitch viewers to vote every five minutes on trading stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, starting with $50,000 from the stream's creator, with rules to avoid breaking financial laws. A similar project using Twitter was launched in January 2021, using Pokémon Red, with the Twitter account's icon showing the game's progress and commands taken from tweets sent to the account.

The term "crowdplay" describes games where the crowd's actions directly affect the game. tinyBuild used the "Twitch Plays" model to release Punch Club, delaying the game's release until a preset date or until the game was completed through a public "Twitch Plays" stream. Punch Club later allowed viewers to bet on in-game fights using virtual Twitch money, following a similar system used by Oxeye Game Systems for Cobalt. Telltale Games introduced a "crowd play" feature in its 2016 Batman game, letting viewers vote on certain choices in the game. In January 2016, Twitch created a special section for "Twitch Plays" streams, with Kathy Astromoff, Twitch's VP of Developer Success, noting the company recognized the growing popularity of such experiments and wanted to make them easier to find. In March 2016, Twitch announced a "stream first" initiative to help developers create games that integrate streaming and chat features alongside traditional gameplay, based on the success of Twitch Plays Pokémon. Amazon.com, which bought Twitch in 2014, developed the Amazon Lumberyard game engine, which includes tools for Twitch streaming, allowing viewers to influence games through chat, inspired by the popularity of "Twitch Plays."

Another similar project, Fish Plays Pokémon, started in August 2014 during a hackathon. The stream used a camera to track a betta fish in a bowl, with the fish's movements controlling Pokémon Red. The stream reached about 20,000 viewers at its peak. Another project, π Plays Pokémon, maps each digit from 0 to 9 to a button on the Game Boy Advance and sends one input to Pokémon Sapphire every second, reflecting the idea that pi might be a normal number. On February 25, 2025, Anthropic began streaming Claude Plays Pokémon, a project where Claude plays Pokémon Red.

A special Helix Fossil emote with the shortcut "PraiseIt" was later added to Twitch as a celebration of the original Pokémon Red run. On March 1, 2024, the official Pokémon Instagram account shared a video of Omastar and Omanyte to mark the 10th anniversary of the original run's completion.

Game completion

From Platinum to Black 2, the stream displayed a second game, Pokémon Stadium 2, next to the main game. Unlike other games, the actions in Stadium 2 were not controlled by chat messages. Instead, players received virtual money to bet on the results of matches. After Pokémon X ended on August 1, 2014, a similar system was used, with Pokémon Battle Revolution replacing Stadium 2. This game had better graphics and more features. In this version, players who placed bets could vote on which move their team would use each turn. The system would randomly pick one of the chosen moves, but players who bet more money had a better chance of their move being selected. The developer made a modified version of Pokémon Battle Revolution called Pokémon Battle Revolution 2.0. This version fixes errors and adds improvements, such as new battle arenas. During this time, the stream also showed other games, including Harvest Moon GB, Pokkén Tournament, EarthBound, Robopon Sun, and saved game progress from the first four runs played backward.

Additionally, an extra game was shown next to any game being played. This game is a modified version of Pokémon Pinball called Pokémon Pinball Generations. It includes two new levels based on the second generation of Pokémon. Now, all Pokémon from Generation II can be collected in the game, and players earn badges randomly when they catch a Pokémon during a Pinball session.