The Pokémon GO craze has come and gone, and former or lapsed players are either looking for something a little more complex, or something a little more casual. Pokémon: Magikarp Jump comes straight from the Pokémon Group for Android and iOS devices alike, and we would say it’s a classic example of the latter – a no-frills, stress-free game that anyone, even non-gamers can enjoy. And for those who aren’t familiar with the context behind the game, it’s a title based on the most incompetent, useless (unless you were trying to get a Gyarados in Pokémon GO), and least powerful Pokémon of all, that hopelessly flailing, failing fish-like creature called Magikarp.
Although the game might sound like one of those endless runners/jumpers, or possibly the Pokémon Group’s answer to super-casual games like Flappy Bird, it’s actually more than that. With the game’s controls, you can raise multiple generations of Magikarp, training the creature to increase its jump power, and tapping on the screen so that you can feed it. And there are also different types of Magikarp to collect in this game, including peculiar-looking ones with calico and polka dot patterns. So with that all said, let’s not waste any more of your time, as we present to you our Pokémon: Magikarp Jump strategy guide, packed with all the tips you need to grow your Magikarp and then some.
1. How To Improve Your JP
“JP” is an acronym you’ll be reading about quite a lot in this guide, and it stands for Jump Points. How do you improve this statistic in Pokémon: Magikarp Jump? Well, there are two ways – the first would be by training your Magikarp, and the second would be to feed it. The second way is easier, as it allows you to simply tap on the screen, in exchange for a contented Magikarp and more JP coming its way. You can also use your coins to upgrade the food in the in-game store; with each upgrade, each food item will generate significantly more JP, so keep feeding and upgrading if you want to improve JP in the easiest, most practical way possible.
2. Use All Your Training Points, And Keep On Breeding Your Magikarp, Win Or Lose
The game features jump battles, and these would require you to do as well as possible, especially if you’ve decided to hold out until you’ve used all your training points. Training points are restored immediately once you’ve ranked up, and that will allow you to fish out a better, more powerful Magikarp and move on to the next league; as such, it’s imperative that you spend all your training points whenever possible. What’s the best way to breed your Magikarp, in that case?
Even if your present Magikarp gets maxed out and loses its final league match, that shouldn’t be anything to worried about. Although it certainly wouldn’t be in your best interests to lose, you will get a 10 percent motivation bonus for each time you move from one generation to the next. That will allow upcoming Magikarp to grow faster, thus making it easier for you to grow and improve them. There is, however, one instance in which you may not receive the motivation bonus – that’s whenever your creature has to retire early as a consequence of being taken away.
3. Stay At A Low Ranking
When it comes to the league matches, it’s a commonly-used tactic for players to deliberately lose matches to drop down in their league rankings and therefore game the matchmaking system so they can get winnable matches instead. We wouldn’t always recommend this, but in Magikarp Jump, you may actually keep your Magikarp’s ranking on the lower side of things. As you increase in rank, it’s going to be more difficult for you to retire your Magikarp the organic way, so we would suggest not entering any league matches unless you’ve got a maxed-out Magikarp; if it’s maxed out, the creature could technically retire after the next loss.
Now what happens if you stick to your maxed-out Magikarp and keep competing in league matches? Well, you will still be rewarded with XP, and you can still push forward without retiring. Better yet, you could potentially rank up. But there’s a catch here as you earn more of that experience points. Namely, if your Magikarp is taking on league matches at max level, you wouldn’t be able to play any random event within the league.
4. Take Part In Training Mini-Games
There are some things that may or may not happen once you’ve finished an extensive training session with your Magikarp. For one, there’s the possibility of receiving a message telling you that it’s a “nice day out” and adding that you’re planning to take the long way back home. This could mean you’ll be invited to the “Out of Nowhere” event. In here, you will be given two prompts asking you if you want to have your Magikarp leap up and catch the berries; this is a special mini-game, where you can earn some nice JP boosts if your Magikarp is able to get the berry. But if you fail the mini-game, it’s going to fall prey to a Pidgeotto, and that is not something you want happening – make sure you’re taking this event seriously!
Alternately, you may be invited to the “Is it Treasure?” event, which shows itself by means of a PokeBall that appears in front of you. This PokeBall may be an ordinary ball and may be hiding some treasure, which is a good thing. But as we observed, this is one mini-game that appears to be a lose-lose situation for anyone who tries it. Typically, the ball turns out to be a Voltorb all along, and for those who aren’t familiar with the Pokémon universe, this is a Pokémon that could self-destruct, meaning the end of your Magikarp should you mistake it for treasure.
5. More About The Training Mini-Games
Of course, those are not the only mini-games you can play in Magikarp Jump, but we decided to discuss the other one separately. You may also be told that you should swim home after a long training event, and that’s going to segue into the All that Glitters mini-game. As it swims across the water, your Magikarp will come upon a shiny object, and if you’re lucky when examining this object, you’ll chance upon a decent amount of diamonds – usually about 7, but nothing too extravagant. In short, expect solid, unspectacular gains. But if you find the glass orb instead, that’s going to cost your Magikarp some JP. Those appear to be the only outcomes in this mini-game, and given that there may only be two, we suggest taking the gamble – you may lose some JP, but diamonds are hard to come by and it’s always great if you can get them for free.
Like the Is it Treasure? mini-game, All that Glitters is based on chance, so think carefully before deciding to play it or not.
6. You May Join A Special Event By Clicking On The TV
Your Magikarp pond comes with a TV on the top left corner, and when you click on it, you’ll be redirected to the “I Love Magikarp” song, as found on the official Pokémon channel on YouTube. But don’t misconstrue this video as nothing more than a funny clip. You may actually want to try this little tactic if you get the chance – tap on the TV, hit on cancel right away, and repeat this until you notice that there’s static in the television set. After this, redo the tap-and-cancel process and keep on doing this until the static is gone.
That’s going to trigger another event/mini-game, which the game refers to as “Be Gone!” This mini-game will have you and your Magikarp haunted by a female ghost, and if you’re given the chance to do so, try to get as far away from the ghost as possible. That’s going to increase your Magikarp’s maximum level by one, but since the catch here is that you can only increase max level once, this is a mini-game best played once you’ve gotten far enough and are looking forward to a future version of Magikarp. Fortunately, this is one mini-game where the outcome isn’t entirely based on chance.
7. Upgrade Existing Berries, Not The New Ones
Although it might sound like an exciting idea to unlock as many new berries as possible, it’s actually better to keep on upgrading the two stock berries you start with. Upgrading one berry increases the JP your Magikarp stands to get, and if you’re able to get these two starting berries up to level 25 each, that means an exponentially high amount of JP per berry, which can never be a bad thing for your Magikarp.
8. Tap On Pikachu For Extra JP
The game doesn’t make this obvious, so you can possibly call this a hidden feature of sorts. Simply scroll to the top while on the feeding screen, go past the water, and you’ll see Pikachu leisurely taking a nap on the shore. Tap on Pikachu, and you’ll get a ton of JP in return. You can do this every 90 minutes or so, as Pikachu will go right back to sleep after he “rewards” you with the extra JP.
9. Note All Individual Bonuses
It pays to keep track of the individual bonuses you receive for catching a certain type of Magikarp. But these bonuses could work in your favor, as some may increase your chances of being eligible to play one of those training mini-games, while others may increase the amount of JP a Magikarp gets per morsel of food consumed. Take mental notes of the individual bonuses, or better yet, write them down, so that you have a good idea of how to focus your training properly.
10. Don’t Ignore Decorations
Decorations may only seem to be there for aesthetic purposes, but you wouldn’t want to ignore them in Magikarp Jump. If you earn or buy new decorations, you should be adding them to your pond, as they provide more than just aesthetics, and do more than just spiff things up. With the right decorations, your pond could lure more helper Pokémon over, and these creatures work their magic by cheering for you once you’re competing against a league rival. More Pokémon cheering means a higher JP bonus, so make sure you’re not glossing over the decorations aspect! It does matter too, you know.
11. How To Get More Friendship Items / Support Pokémon
As we explained a couple of tips ago, Magikarp is joined by some other Pokémon whom you might recognize from the animated series – or Pokémon GO, if 2016 served as your introduction to the franchise. But it’s not just Pikachu who will drop by and take a nap by the beach, as there are other support Pokémon who could restore a Magikarp’s training points, or give it more JP. To summon these characters, you’ll need a friendship item (i.e. support candy) for that, and you can get them either by winning in league competition, or paying diamonds (your premium currency) at the Diamond Shop. Currently, the game comes with eight leagues, with the first one coming with four battles, and subsequent leagues requiring you to win more as the difficulty ramps up.
12. Complete More Achievements For More Goodies
Need more common currency (coins), premium currency (diamonds), or support candies? It’s very easy – you simply need to take a look at the achievements, remember what has to be done, and complete them for bonus candy, coins, and diamonds. Take note, however, that some achievements may be harder to complete than others, as each achievement comes with five separate tiers.
13. Make Sure The Sandbag Slam Is Upgraded
At first, you shouldn’t be spending too many coins on the Sandbag Slam. Initial upgrades would only require four coins, but that’s going to improve the JP boost by 20. Once you’re done with that, you can then spend 17 more coins to increase the JP boost from 35 to 115. That’s going to put the Sandbag Slam at par, or almost at par, to the Jump Counter, and you can do it with the help of this simple tip.
And this wraps up our detailed strategy guide for Pokémon: Magikarp Jump. As always, if you know more tips or tricks, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comment section below!
Magikarp
Thursday 9th of February 2023
You cannot break the everstone if your magikarp is at level 20