After crashing on a strange unexplored planet, Captain Olimar must gather the thirty missing parts of his space ship, before his life support runs out in thirty days and he succumbs to the planet hostile atmosphere. Luckily the Pikmin, a plant/insect life form native to the planet, are there to help him. Olimar must gather and lead the Pikmin in this real time strategy game to collect the missing pieces of his ship while combating the planet's strange and sometimes hostile flora and fauna.