Create Your Own Fakemon Game

"Fakemon" -- fan-designed original monsters -- have been a creative outlet for the Pokemon community for decades. DeviantArt, Reddit, and dedicated forums are filled with thousands of brilliantly designed creatures that will never appear in an official game.

OpenMon turns those designs into playable, shippable games. Design your monsters, build your world, and release commercially on every platform -- no IP conflicts, no legal concerns, no limitations.

What You Need (and What OpenMon Provides)

You Provide	OpenMon Provides
Monster designs and art	Monster data system (species, stats, types, abilities, forms)
World design and maps	Grid-based overworld with encounters, NPCs, events
Story and dialog	CommandGraph visual scripting for events and cutscenes
Music and sound effects	Audio management with BGM, SFX, and crossfading
Game balance decisions	Battle system with configurable damage formulas
Marketing and launch	Cross-platform builds (PC, mobile, web, consoles)

Step 1: Design Your Monsters

Before touching the engine, design your creature roster on paper (or digitally). Good Fakemon design starts with these decisions:

Type System

OpenMon ships with the standard 18-type chart, but you can customize it completely:

• Keep the standard 18 -- players already understand Fire/Water/Grass relationships
• Add new types -- Sound, Cosmic, Digital, Light/Dark split
• Reduce types -- some games use 8-12 types for simplicity
• Custom interactions -- modify the effectiveness chart in the Type Chart Editor

Starter Trio

Your starters define your game's identity. Design three monsters that:

• Represent your type triangle (traditionally Fire/Water/Grass, but you can innovate)
• Have three-stage evolution lines
• Appeal to different player aesthetics
• Are balanced against each other

Regional Variety

Plan your roster around your game's regions and biomes:

Biome	Example Types	Role
Starting town	Normal, Bug	Early encounters, learning battles
Forest	Grass, Bug, Flying	First type diversity
Caves	Rock, Ground, Dark	Physical attackers
Water routes	Water, Ice	Surfing encounters
Mountain	Fighting, Steel, Dragon	Late-game challenges
Endgame	Psychic, Ghost, Fairy	Rare and powerful

A solid roster for a full game is 100-200 original monsters. For a smaller project or demo, 40-60 is workable.

Step 2: Create Monster Data in OpenMon

Each monster in OpenMon is a MonsterSpecies ScriptableObject. Create one through the editor:

1. Go to MCE > Database > Create Monster Species
2. Fill in the species data:

Name: Flambit
DexNumber: 001
Types: [Fire]
BaseStats:
  HP: 45
  Attack: 60
  Defense: 40
  SpAttack: 70
  SpDefense: 50
  Speed: 65
GrowthRate: MediumSlow
CatchRate: 45
BaseExperience: 64
EggGroups: [Field, Monster]
HatchCycles: 20
Abilities: [Blaze]
HiddenAbility: FlameBody
GenderRatio: 87.5  # percent male

3. Assign sprites (front, back, icon, shiny variants)
4. Define the learn set (moves learned by level, TM, egg move, tutor)
5. Set up evolution chains

Using the Art Studio

Do not have sprites yet? OpenMon's Art Studio uses AI-assisted generation to create monster sprites from descriptions:

1. Go to MCE > Tools > Art Studio
2. Describe your monster: "Small fox-like creature with flame-tipped ears and a curled fire tail, pixel art style, 96x96"
3. Generate variants and pick your favorite
4. Art Studio creates front, back, and icon sprites automatically

This is perfect for prototyping. Replace with hand-drawn art when you are ready.

Step 3: Build Your World

Map Creation

OpenMon uses Unity scenes with a GridController component for tile-based movement:

1. Create a new Unity Scene
2. Add a GridController (sets up the tile grid)
3. Paint tiles using the Visual Map Editor (MCE > Tools > Map Editor)
4. Place collision, encounter zones, warps, and NPC spawn points

Encounter Tables

Configure which monsters appear where:

1. Select an encounter zone tile
2. Open the Encounter Table inspector
3. Add species with rarity percentages:

Monster	Rarity	Levels
Flambit	30%	3-5
Leafpup	30%	3-5
Rocklet	20%	4-6
Sparkit	15%	3-5
Shimmer	5%	5-7

4. Set encounter conditions (time of day, weather, terrain type)

NPCs and Events

Use CommandGraph to create NPC behavior without code:

• Dialog nodes -- multi-line conversations with player choices
• Condition nodes -- check badges, items, variables, roster state
• Action nodes -- give items, heal party, set variables, warp player
• Battle nodes -- trigger trainer battles with configured teams
• Quest nodes -- start, progress, and complete quests

Step 4: Balance Your Game

Difficulty Curve

Plan your game's progression:

Phase	Player Level	Wild Levels	Gym/Boss Level	New Mechanics
Early game	1-15	2-12	14	Basic battles, type matchups
Mid game	15-35	12-30	32	Status moves, abilities, items
Late game	35-50	30-45	48	Double battles, weather, terrain
Post-game	50-100	50-80	70-100	Competitive, breeding, shinies

Battle Balance

OpenMon uses Gen V+ damage formulas by default, which are well-balanced. Key tuning points:

• Base stat totals -- starters typically total 525 at final evolution, legendaries 600-680
• Move power distribution -- early moves 40-60 power, late moves 80-120
• Type chart -- if you add custom types, test every interaction in the Type Chart Editor

Step 5: Polish and Ship

Localization

Going global? OpenMon's localization system supports runtime language switching:

1. Export your text to localization files
2. Translate monster names, descriptions, dialog, and UI strings
3. Players select their language in settings

Platform Builds

From one Unity project, build for:

• Steam (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Mobile (iOS App Store, Google Play)
• Web (WebGL, playable in browser)
• Consoles (Switch, PS5, Xbox -- requires dev kits)

Monetization Options

Your game, your business model:

Model	Implementation
Premium ($10-30)	Traditional one-time purchase on Steam/stores
Free-to-play	Cosmetic shop, battle passes (Online tier)
Early Access	Release on Steam EA, iterate with community feedback
Patreon/Kickstarter	Fund development with community support

Legal Considerations

When creating a Fakemon game for commercial release:

• Original monster designs -- do not trace or closely copy existing Pokemon. Inspired by is fine; derivative of is not.
• Original names -- "Flambit" is fine; "Charizard" is not. Even move names that are too close to Pokemon-specific moves should be changed.
• Mechanics are not copyrightable -- turn-based battles, type effectiveness, and capture mechanics are game mechanics, not IP. You can use them freely.
• Your art, your copyright -- sprites and art you create (or commission) belong to you.
• Music licensing -- ensure you have rights to all audio in your game.

OpenMon's engine code is commercially licensed. Your game content built on top of it is entirely yours.

Inspiration from the Community

These independent games started as Fakemon projects and became commercial successes:

• Coromon -- retro pixel art, 120+ original creatures, multi-platform
• Nexomon -- mobile-first, humorous tone, 300+ monsters
• Cassette Beasts -- cassette tape theme with fusion mechanic
• Monster Crown -- crossbreeding system, dark tone, open world
• Disc Creatures -- Game Boy aesthetic, 200+ creatures

Your Fakemon game could be next. The genre is thriving and players are actively looking for new experiences beyond the mainline Pokemon games.

Get Started

1. Install OpenMon
2. Create your first monster
3. Set up your first battle
4. Design your world
5. Add events and NPCs