Pokémon TCG Pocket is fun, quick and great for collectors

When I was four years old I was introduced to my first Pokémon cards. I don’t remember all the Pocket Monsters I had, but I distinctly remember trading my very cool looking Raichu to my older cousins who claimed I knew nothing about Pokémon. At that time they were right; I didn’t know much about these adorable Japanese monsters, but I never made that same mistake again.

27 years later, I’ve watched Pokémon anime, read chapters of the manga, played every mainstream game (except the original Red and Blue), and even played some off-shoots like Pokémon Unite and Pokémon Colosseum. However, after these two and a half decades, I never got back into the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) until now—sort of.

I got to try Pokémon Trading Card Pocket, a quick mobile version of the TCG that many know and love. I also spoke with some of the minds behind the new mobile game.

Launching on October 30th, Pokémon Pocket lets you battle and collect Pokémon Cards. Collecting is the main focus of the title. Pokémon Pocket enables you to collect up to 200 beloved Pokémon cards and place them in binders. Pokémon skins can come in different rarities as well. While playing the game, I got a very cool Nidoqueen card skin different from the basic Nidoqueen card. At launch, two immersive cards exist: Pikachu and Mewtwo. I still haven’t seen the Mewtwo one, but I liked the Pikachu card.  When viewing cards in your binder, you can tap on an immersive card, and the visuals bring you into the card. For the Pikachu, you can see what the Butterfrees are up to behind the Pikachu. It even explores the Squirtle in a pond, but that’s not on the card. It’s beautiful and well done, and I can’t wait to see more.

As for collecting, you’ll get one pack per 12 hours at no cost for logging in. You can also earn hourglasses to reduce the time needed to open packs by one hour. However, during my time playing, it seemed like you’ll get a lot of packs to begin with, as you earn Hourglasses for levelling up and completing missions. I was able to earn about ten packs within an hour. However, you’ll be stuck to one pack every 12 hours after completing your missions.

There are even Wonder Picks, similar to Wonder Trading, that let you pick one card at random from a booster pack opened by other players. However, this all also requires its own Wonder Hourglasses and Wonder Stamina.

While collecting is the central point of Pokémon Pocket, I have the most fun with battling. A Pokémon TCG battle could take up to 45 minutes to an hour, but Pokémon Pocket takes up to seven minutes per battle. Instead of a full deck of 60 cards, your deck will comprise only 20 cards with no energy cards.  Your bench only hosts three Pokémon instead of six, and the first to three points win. You get points by defeating your opponent’s Pokémon; you get one point per Pokémon unless you defeat an opponent’s ‘Ex’ Pokémon, which grants you two points.

You can battle bots locally with friends or against players around the world. You can play with custom decks or auto-build decks and use Rental Decks for Deck Missions.

While the game is free, there are other in-game currencies. You can purchase Poké Gold to buy more Hourglasses or a monthly subscription to get an additional booster pack every 24 hours. There’s also another currency for changing the appearances of your cards with fun ‘Flairs.’ The monetization is probably what I dislike most in the title, and wish that there weren’t different in-game currencies for ‘Wonder Picks,’ ‘Flairs’ and regular Hourglasses.

Creatures, the maker of the title, and the Pokémon Company are currently looking into a ‘Ranked’ mode but are focusing on the app’s creature collection aspects.

The company is starting with its first expansion, Genetic Apex (A1), and will not stick to the same release schedule as the regular TCG. However, the company will have Pokémon Pocket expansion releases tied to other Pokémon announcements. Potentially, there will be a new expansion with the release of Pokémon Legends ZA, for example. And with that it’s possible we might even see Megas.

And while collecting is the main purpose of the title, Creatures is looking into how card trading should work. First, it’s planning on launching the base title, then want to see how people are playing it before releasing a trading mechanic.

Pokémon Trading card Game Pocket launches on October 30th. If you’re like me and love Pokémon, trading card games, and TCGs that are sped up like Marvel Snap then you’ll definitely enjoy Pokémon Pocket.