Publications/Strategy guides

This is a list of strategy guides licensed by Nintendo that involve Pikmin in some way.

Prima Games[edit]

Prima Games is the largest strategy guide publisher in the United States. They have made a number of Pikmin-related guides, with in-depth walkthroughs. On top of that, they also commonly include extra information about subjects in the series that isn't given anywhere else, like the scientific names of enemies in Pikmin. While they are deemed official by Nintendo, they do occasionally contain errors, so how canon their content is is debatable.

The Official Nintendo Player's Guide[edit]

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List[edit]

North America[edit]

Game	Name	Description
Pikmin	The Official Nintendo Player's Guide	Part of the Guide series released by Nintendo Power. Contains exclusive notes from Olimar and an exclusive "Field Guide: A Comprehensive Study of the Native Wildlife in the Pikmin World". The Field Guide is a compilation of notes written by Hocotatian zoologists have used Olimar’s detailed notes as the basis for their studies of the alien life-forms. The entries are apparently excerpts from their findings.
Pikmin	Prima's Official Strategy Guide	A guide released by Prima. It was released as a stand alone, as well as in a bundle titled "4 Guides for the Price of 1", which also contained guides for Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Wave Race: Blue Storm.
Pikmin 2	The Official Nintendo Player's Guide	Part of the Guide series released by Nintendo Power.
New Play Control! Pikmin	Prima Official Game Guide	A guide released by Prima. Contains exclusive notes from Olimar and an exclusive "Denizens of a Distant Planet: A Field Guide", which is mostly the same as the Player's Guide Field Guide with a few differences. This includes some changes to a few entries as well and four new entries about the Dwarf Bulborb, Dwarf Bulbear, Candypop Buds and the Pellet Posies. These are apparently the original notes that Captain Olimar created and that the zoologists would later base their notes on, however they appear to be edited as every entry using the "technical names" of the enemy instead of Olimar's original names. The Field Guide's "cover" states, "Captain Olimar's sketches and notes appear courtesy of the Hocotate Freight Company. All Rights Reserved." It also states that it is "By Captain Olimar" on the front cover as well, implying that it was an actual book that Olimar had released.
Pikmin 3	Prima Official Game Guide	A guide released by Prima. This guide was also released digitally.

Japan[edit]

Game	Name	Description
Pikmin	Nintendo Official Guidebook Pikmin	(任天堂公式ガイドブックピクミン^?) This is an official guidebook released by Nintendo and Shogakukan in Japan.
Pikmin	Pikmin Complete Cheats Guide, Olimar's Planetary observation diary by Famitsu	(ピクミン完全攻略ガイドオリマーの惑星観察記^?) This guide is released by Famitsu, a very popular gaming site in Japan. It includes a tear-out poster including all the maps in the first game.
Pikmin	Pikmin 100% in 30 days	(ピクミン100ぴきとすごす30^?) This guidebook is released by Nintendo Dream, who are known for their Japanese Nintendo Magazine. This guide actually comes with 3 books in a slip case. The first book (red) includes information on obstacles and enemies. The second book (yellow) is really just a holder for a large 4x4 page poster including all the maps of the first game. The third book (blue) shows how to collect every treasure, and features challenge mode strategies.
Pikmin 2	Nintendo Official Guidebook Pikmin 2	(任天堂公式ガイドブックピクミン2^?) This is an official guidebook released by Nintendo and Shogakukan in Japan. It also includes a small sticker sheet.
Pikmin 2	Pikmin 2 Treasure Recovery Guide by Nekosogi	(ピクミン2 ねこそぎお宝回収ガイド^?) This is a Pikmin 2 guide released by Enterbrain.^[1] Buying this guide was the only way to obtain the Violet Candypop Bud Pikmin e+ card.
Pikmin 2	Pikmin 2 Complete Navibook	(ピクミン２コンプリートナビブック^?) This guide was released by Dengeki Nintendo, a company known for releasing Nintendo magazines in Japan.
New Play Control! Pikmin and New Play Control! Pikmin 2	Wii New Play Control Enjoyment Guide	(Wiiであそぶセレクション楽しむガイド^?) This book included guides for many of the New Play Control! games in Japan, including Pikmin, Pikmin 2, Mario Power Tennis, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, and Metroid Prime. It also shared some information on the new features of Chibi-Robo: Plug Into Adventure! and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It was released on March 31^st, 2009 by Nintendo Dream.
Pikmin 3	Nintendo Official Guidebook Pikmin 3	(任天堂公式ガイドブックピクミン3^?) This guide is officially released by Nintendo. It was released on August 3^rd, 2013.
Pikmin 3	Pikmin 3 The Complete Guide	(ピクミン3 ザ・コンプリートガイド^?) This guide was released by Dengeki Nintendo on July 7^th, 2013.
Hey! Pikmin	Nintendo Official Guidebook Hey! Pikmin	(任天堂公式ガイドブック Hey!ピクミン^?) This is an official guidebook released by Nintendo and Shogakukan in Japan.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe	Pikmin 3 Deluxe The Official Guide	(ピクミン3 デラックスオフィシャルガイド^?) This guide was released by Blitz Game Books on November 28^th, 2020.
Pikmin 4	Pikmin 4 Perfect Guide	(ピクミン4　パーフェクトガイド^?) Edited by Famitsu Books, it was released on November 14^th, 2023.

Mistakes[edit]

Much like the games themselves, the strategy guides sometimes contain mistakes. This is likely the result of Nintendo accidentally giving the strategy guide company an outdated version of the game, as Nintendo has been known to have done this with Prima Games and Super Mario Galaxy.^[2]

Pikmin Nintendo Player's Guide[edit]

In the section on Challenge Mode, the guide claims that the length of days are longer than normal. This is only mostly true; The Final Trial's time limit is the same as the normal length, and The Impact Site's time limit is actually shorter.
The guide claims that Pikmin are able to attack and defeat Iridescent Flint Beetles, which is impossible.
The Anti-Dioxin Filter is referred to as the "Non-Dioxin", which is a more direct translation of the original Japanese name. This name is also used in the Final results menu of New Play Control! Pikmin.

Pikmin 2 Nintendo Player's Guide[edit]

In the section on the Hole of Beasts, the guide claims that Sheargrubs may come out of eggs, instead of Mitites. This is a naming mistake, since the guide states that the grubs will "send your Pikmin into a tizzy, but your buddies won't be harmed", a description that would describe the Mitites (which do cause Pikmin to panic and are harmless) more rather than the Sheargrubs.
The "Two-Week Walk-Through" calls Emergence Cave the "Cave of Emergence". It is named properly everywhere else in the guide. It is worth noting that the name "Cave of Emergence" is used for the Emergence Cave in an unused early script inside Pikmin 2's files, which may point to the Player's Guide's copy being of an outdated version as noted above.
Ravenous Whiskerpillars are misspelled as "Ravenous Whiskerpillers".
The Treasure Hoard section features screenshots of the Piklopedia instead.
The Dream Den lists Beady Long Legs as an enemy that inhabits the cave.