When it was originally announced, Palworld was pretty much billed as “Pokemonwith guns”, and it seems like the developers aren’t shying away from that reputation. They really seem to be doubling down on the inspiration from Nintendo’s massively popular creature-catching game series. With this comparison front and center, it is only natural for you to be wondering if the game also borrows a lot of Pokemon’s mechanics, like the existence of shinies.

Palworld: How To Play With Friends

If you want to sling guns and tame monsters with your friends in Palworld, this guide can help!

In the world of Pokemon, shinies are special versions of the creatures that you can find in the world. These are rare finds and are a highly sought-after thing for players to collect. Occasionally, they may come with better stats, but a large part of their allure is in how they look compared to the base versions. So many people are wondering if Palworld has its own version of shinies and whether they will be as valuable/rare in the game as they are in the Nintendo franchise.

Palworld - Characters riding pals & Pals working on weapons

Updated by Shane Black on July 25, 2025:This guide was updated to provide a more detailed description of how the Lucky Trait is also passed on through breeding Pals together. It also added more links to relevant guides and articles to give better information to all players.

Does Palworld Have Shinies?

The answer is both yes and no.Palworld does not have the exact same kind of shiny systemthat the Pokemon games do, but it does have its own take on that mechanic that players can look forward to.

Palworld’s take on Shinies are calledLucky Pals, and they have the same color scheme as the normal versions of the Pals that you would find in the world. The only difference appearance-wise that you will notice is that Lucky Pals arelarger in sizethan the normal ones. This is what makes it so that you can recognize a Lucky Pal at first sight and know that you have encountered something very rare.

Palworld - Three Pals Looking down at the camera

You will alsohear a special sound effect and see a glistening effectwhenever you are getting close to a Lucky Pal, so keep your eyes and ears open at all times so that you don’t miss any. The size isn’t the only thing that sets Lucky Pals apart as well, as each Lucky Pal comes withits own kind of buff. This is in the form ofpassive skillscalledRareandWorkaholic.

Rare gives your Lucky Pals an Attack Powerboost of 15%,while Workaholic will give you anequal boost to your Work Power, with that boost to Work Power being especially useful tobreed more Palsfor you to use. If you happen to come across a Lucky Pal while also having built a Breeding Farm, you can bring it back home and really get to pumping out some new Pals to use.

Palworld forgetting to use Pals featured image

As you can probably figure out, thespawn rate for a Lucky Pal is very low, and it will not be a common occurrence for you to come across one as you adventure out in the wild. Because of this, you will want to verify you are always carrying plenty ofPal Sphereswith you.

I Keep Forgetting To Use My Pals In Palworld

Palworld’s difficulty curve turns Pals from a hinderance to a necessity too quickly.

Passing Lucky Trait Through Breeding

One of the best parts of how Lucky Pals work in the game is that the Lucky Trait is something that you can keeppassing on through Breeding.

If you have two Lucky Pals breed together, their offspring willautomatically have the Lucky Trait with them, as well asthe multiple benefitsthat come with it. The only thing is that they will lose their immense size; any Lucky Palthat is bredwill be the size of a normal Pal that you would find in the world.

The Palworld character successfully bred two Kelpseas.

At the time of writing, it does appear that you canbreed a Lucky Pal with a normal Pal, and the offspring will still be Lucky. But the odds of it happening might be lower.

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If you’re trying to unlock guns in Palworld, this guide can help!

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Palworld - Various Pals Holding Guns