Pokémon Sleep: Why does the game deal out F grades even if you’ve slept a lot? 

The Pokémon Sleep community seems to be having trouble with the game’s weekly Overall Grade. Even some of the most hardcore sleepers have been reporting on Reddit that they keep mysteriously getting F grades. It would seem that simply sleeping a lot is not enough for those who want a high grade. 

As the video shows, Snorlax grows with the amount of sleep it gets. Players make this happen using various methods, such as getting a long night’s sleep, or even sleeping twice a day. Some players may also try to boost their performance by focusing on cooking recipes. Even with all these different approaches, there is an area where all players seem to struggle: the Overall Sleep Grade 

Once a week, Pokémon Sleep players get an overall evaluation of their sleep, which is announced on Mondays and based on their sleep rhythms. Grades range from F to S, and it would be natural to assume that someone who sleeps a lot or maintains a consistent number of hours slept would have a high rating for this score. However, this is not necessarily the case.  

On Reddit’s r/PokemonSleep, the thread “Why is this graded F?” is thriving with over 100 comments. Here, players who have received an F on their overall evaluation, and those who have qualms about the criteria for sleep evaluation in general, voice their concerns. The most common issue seems to be, “I got an F even though I slept well,” which includes people whose Sleep Score is 100 every day but who get Fs, or those who consistently slept 7 hours a day for a week but still got an F. On the other hand, some players mention getting an S grade despite their habit of staying up late, contradicting the results of others. There seems to be quite a commotion around the topic. 

So, why are people experiencing these discrepancies? One of the reasons may be the Sleep Midway Point, which is the midway point between the time when you fall asleep and the time when you wake up. That time in the exact middle of a player’s sleep time is recorded, and it is checked whether these times are aligned throughout the week or not. 

This might be bad news for those who like to catch z’s two times a day. This is because, for example, if you sleep twice a day, both Midway Points are measured and points are deducted if the times are not aligned. If you sleep twice a day at any point during the week, your grade is effected dramatically. While the length of sleep is also evaluated, Pokémon Sleep considers the Sleep Midway Point to be more important than anything else. Therefore, it is difficult for someone who sleeps unnaturally long or sometimes sleeps twice in a day to improve their grade. In contrast, even if you sleep only about 6 hours, you may get an S if your Midway Point is stable. 

It should be noted that the low grade does not seem to cause much of an issue in terms of rewards. The reward being Handy Candy S. The number of candies for an S rank is reported to be 6, and the number decreases depending on the rating. Handy Candy S is nice to have, but it’s definitely not the most valuable item out there. That said, it can’t be pleasant to receive an F after doing your best at the game for a whole week, so those keen on maintaining a high grade may benefit from making adjustments to their sleeping habits. 

Written by. Connor Lawless based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-09-06 19:53 JST)