PokéBonk Beginner Guide: How to Play Your First Run

Start with Bulbasaur, Classic mode, Viridian Forest and Normal difficulty. Keep moving while your attacks fire automatically, collect experience, improve a small set of useful moves and spend Stardust in the Lab between runs. This is our beginner route for learning the game with recovery and a clear progression goal.

PokéBonk is Charcher's free 3D Pokémon survivor game at pokebonk.com. You control movement, positioning, upgrades and your Ultimate; most normal attacks fire automatically. This independent guide keeps the walkthrough, 79-partner tier list and planning tools beside the original game.

October 26 follow-up: v0.8.47 adds Pokémon selection search by name or number. After a guardian falls, the arrow and minimap guide you to its Great Ball and then the portal. In v0.8.55, pause to inspect the accumulated level-up bonuses on each move. For the new Archive unlock bonus, see the Lab guide. Official v0.8.47–0.8.55 notes.

Start your first run

1. Open the original game in a browser with JavaScript and WebGL available. Choose Play as a guest! to try it, or use your existing account.
2. Pick one starter. Bulbasaur supports recovery, Squirtle starts with armor and shield, and Charmander favors Fire damage. Our starter comparison shows their actual passives and opening moves.
3. Open Play, choose Classic, select Viridian Forest and start on Normal. Save Survival and harder Classic difficulties for after you understand the loop.
4. Read the run-preparation screen before confirming. Your chosen partner, map and mode matter more than a generic mainline Pokémon stat total.
5. Move into open space, collect experience and use the first upgrade choices to improve your attack coverage.

Guest progress uses a guest identity stored by this browser. Before changing devices or clearing site storage, read the save and account guide; the account form uses a trainer name and password, not a presumed email login.

Learn the controls that keep you alive

Bindings can be changed. See the complete controls guide for targeting, card shortcuts and the current settings. On phones, use the mobile setup guide for touch controls and landscape play.

Choose useful level-up cards

Collect experience to level up. You can receive a new attack, improve an equipped move or take a vitamin/stat option. Start by asking whether the card actually helps a move or weakness you have now.

• Early: add useful coverage without filling every slot with unrelated attacks. An attack you can land reliably is more useful than a theoretical combo that has not appeared.
• After your core moves appear: strengthen them instead of spreading every upgrade across new attacks.
• When the choices miss your plan: use Refresh, Skip or Banish deliberately. Skip gives PokéDollars; Banish removes the selected option for the remainder of that run.
• Before a fusion: hold both required inputs and raise each to move level 8. Player level and move level are different numbers.

You begin with three move slots. The Lab's 4th move purchase adds capacity; Fourth option adds a card choice. They do different jobs. The level-up guide explains when to use each card-control action.

Build a simple starter plan

Bulbasaur's Grass-focused route is our forgiving first recommendation. Keep moving, use the recovery passive, take useful Grass coverage and work toward Razor Leaf + Solar Beam → Flower Beam when both inputs appear. You do not need to force a fusion to learn your first map.

Squirtle is a good alternative if you prefer a shielded opening. Charmander suits a more offensive Fire plan. Compare all three in the starter guide, or follow the more detailed build recommendations.

At Bill's Machine, a fusion replaces two eligible moves with one attack, freeing a slot. Use the Move Fusion Finder to check the actual pair before you commit upgrade choices. It is a recipe lookup, not a promise that the run will offer both inputs.

Read the map and fight the boss

Keep an exit path open while collecting experience and interacting with map objects. Avoid running straight through a dense pack just to collect one pickup. Check what an altar, shop or machine asks for before activating it.

For a Guardian, watch its warning and attack pattern, move out of danger and return to an effective attacking position. Save mobility and your Ultimate for a specific opening. A recovery build still needs to avoid repeated hits. The boss guide explains the mechanics and the two Season 2 legendary encounters.

Classic is the starting point for map progression. The map sequence continues from Viridian Forest to Rocky Desert, then Storm Coast and Celestial Glacier. Use the mode comparison and Season 2 guide when deciding your next goal.

Spend your first Stardust

The Lab's own tutorial recommends 4th move first, followed by spreading spending between Refresh, Skip and Training. For a new save, the fourth move costs 1,275 Stardust. The first levels of Refresh, Skip and Training cost 100, 70 and 85: that complete starting package costs 1,530.

With exactly 1,500, you can buy 4th move, Refresh and Skip for 1,445, leaving 55. With less than the fourth-slot price, you can either save or buy a small upgrade that solves a problem you keep encountering. Those are different priorities, not a mandatory purchase sequence for every player.

The Lab guide has all 24 upgrades, current Archive levels and more budget examples. Enter the levels you already own in the Lab Budget Planner so you only count the purchases still ahead of you.

Set a goal for your next three runs

A League challenge and capturing the partner are separate steps. Start with a reachable target in the 79-partner unlock guide, rather than expecting every Pokédex form to be an independent starter choice.

Sources and checks

Walkthrough updated October 25, 2026. Menu, controls, account terminology and Season 2 context were checked in the official v0.8.46 client, its English UI and public announcements. Lab prices use the separately rechecked v0.8.46 table. Detailed starter and fusion tables retain their stated v0.8.18 evidence; the editorial ranking retains v0.8.25. This route is a practical recommendation, not a recorded three-run clear or damage benchmark. Sources and methodology.

Watch it in action

Watch video

Videos may show an earlier version. Check the verified version noted in our guides for mechanics, Lab prices and purchase advice. If anything differs, follow the current game. Sources and checked versions

Keep exploring

• Best PokéBonk Starter: Bulbasaur vs Charmander vs Squirtle
• PokéBonk Controls: Keyboard, Mouse, Auto Aim & Keybinds
• PokéBonk Lab Upgrades: All Costs & What to Buy First
• PokéBonk Modes: Classic, Survival, Co-op & Daily Mutation
• PokéBonk Season 2: End Date, Maps & Recent Updates