This is the guide we wish every first-time Nuzlocker read before Route 1. It follows the same structure the best community guides use (Nuzlocke University’s 2024 beginner’s guide, Bulbapedia, the tracker sites): what it is → the rules → pick a game → survive the run.

Step 1: What a Nuzlocke is

A Nuzlocke is a fan-made, self-imposed challenge for Pokémon games, created by Nick Franco in 2010. It’s not a game mode — nobody enforces the rules but you. The full background is in what Nuzlocke means and the origin story; all you need right now is the rules.

Step 2: Learn the two rules

  1. First encounter only — in each new area, you may only catch the first wild Pokémon you meet. If it faints or flees, that area gives you nothing.
  2. Faint = death — any Pokémon that faints is dead. Release it or box it forever. No Revives.

Most players add a third, conventional rule: nickname everything — it makes deaths hurt, which is the point. The full picture (clauses, optional rules, the gift-encounter debate) is in our Nuzlocke rules guide.

Step 3: Pick your first game

Any main-series game works, but the community’s most-recommended first runs are the ones with deep guide support:

  • Pokémon Emerald — the classic. 149 species across 70 locations, 29 boss fights, and more written/video guidance than almost any other game.
  • Pokémon Platinum — a common first pick that scales into one of the hardest level-cap runs later.

Nuzlocke University’s advice is to pick based on what kind of player you are and what you want from the run — if you know a region well already, that familiarity is worth more than any tier list.

Step 4: Set up your run

  • Write your rules down — two core rules plus whatever clauses you chose (Dupes and Shiny clauses are the usual picks).
  • Get a tracker — logging encounters and deaths on paper gets old by gym 3. The free Nuzlocke trackers (nuzlocke-redux, nuzlocketracker.org) run in your browser with no account; there are also mobile apps.
  • Bookmark your game’s data — encounter tables, boss movesets and level caps exist for 60+ games on the tracker-guide sites.

Step 5: Survive — the five tips every source agrees on

Across Nuzlocke University’s tip lists, Bulbapedia and community threads, the same advice repeats (full list: Nuzlocke tips):

  1. Don’t over-level recklessly — but do stay at the cap. Under-leveling kills more runs than bad luck.
  2. Research bosses before you fight them. Their movesets and ace levels are documented; use that.
  3. Switch out early. A low-HP Pokémon that stays in “for one more turn” is how runs end.
  4. Carry status cures. Poison and burn tick downs kill between battles.
  5. Keep a bench. Your boxed Pokémon are your replacement roster — plan who steps in when (not if) someone dies.

Step 6: Know what “losing” means

If your whole party faints — a black out — the community standard is that the run is over. Nick Franco’s original 2010 run ended exactly this way, at Champion Steven Stone. Losing is the default outcome of a Nuzlocke; finishing one is the exception. That’s what makes the second attempt so good.

When you’re ready for more: Hardcore rules for the real test, variants for structured chaos, or the best ROM hacks when the official games run out.

Sources