Pokémon TCG Pocket preview: A new way to catch ‘em all
Ever since its announcement on Pokémon Day (27 February) earlier this year, I’ve been somewhat excited about finally going hands on with Pokémon TCG Pocket. I’ve loved the physical card game for decades, but the one-to-one digital replica Pokémon TCG Live never really appealed to me. On mobile, it just feels too busy and not something I personally enjoyed on the go. The concept of a mobile friendly, faster paced version of the classic card game, complete with pack openings, that I can play on my commute hits a very specific niche I was searching for.
For those who don’t know, Pokémon TCG Pocket is a streamlined version of the classic Pokémon card game for phones that looks to rival digital card games like Marvel Snap in a way that it speeds up the average time of a game. But to the Pokémon Company and Creatures, they see it more as an introduction for new players into the mainline TCG.
One of the biggest draws is the ability to open packs and collect cards in the game, with each player getting two free packs per day – one every 12 hours. Now you can, kind of, buy more packs, but that will involve using the in-game currency, Poké Gold, that obviously raises the concern of a pay-to-win ecosystem.
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I raised this in a recent interview about TCG Pocket with Ryo Tsujikawa, the general manager at Creatures Inc, who told me that the two free packs per day for deck building and use in battle will be more than enough to stay competitive. On the other hand, though, if you want to collect the rarer cards for your collection, that will involve opening and paying for more packs. Which to be fair, feels authentic to the standard card game. Those who buy more packs will inherently pull more of the rarer card variants – the only difference here is these cards are digital.
This new stripped back version of the game cuts the deck size from 60 to 20 cards, going down to only three cards on the bench, scrapping energy cards from the deck entirely (giving the player one energy every turn) and removes the prize card system. Now it’s the first to three points wins. A standard knock-out earning a player one point, or like in the standard TCG, two points for taking out an ex Pokémon.
Given the new audience this game will bring to the TCG, I asked Ryo Tsujikawa if there any plans to bring the game to the competitive circuit, alongside Pokémon GO, Unite, the mainline video game and physical TCG, and his response was, surprisingly, not an outright no – just that there are no clear plans right now, but if there’s a big following for the game, it could be considered in the future.
Diving into the in-game currency and monetisation, frustratingly, it seems TCG Pocket has fallen into a classic mobile game trap, with a seemingly overly complicated range of different currencies.
Let’s start with the Shop Ticket. This can be unlocked by completing in-game missions and can be redeemed for cosmetics and accessories – things like sparkle effects on your cards or digital display cases for your favourite pulls. Then there’s Emblem Tickets, unlocked by complementing Themed Collections and Dex Missions. Unsurprisingly, these redeemed for player emblems. Special Shop tickets, which are gained from “consuming high rarity cards” (burning them), can be used to redeem “special accessories”, which I assume are the rarer end of the accessories compared to what Shop Ticket unlocks. There’s then the Event Shop Ticket, earned from completing events and can be used to unlock limited time accessories.
It all feels a bit much.
When it comes to spending you hard earned pennies, TCG Pocket offers Poké Gold and the Premium Pass. Poké Gold can be used to reduce the time you have to wait to open a new pack down by two hours. The smallest amount of Poké Gold you can buy is five, which will cost $0.99 in the US. So, for $0.99 you can use all five Poké Gold and open a pack two hours after the previous one. The Poké Gold can also be used to buy accessories, obviously.
Then there’s the premium pass, which for $9.99 ups the number of “free” packs a day from two to three as well as adds “premium missions”, the chance to earn promo cards and in-game items. Thankfully these promo cards are just alternate arts, and never offer a competitive advantage with more attack power or abilities. Hopefully this keeps that pay-to win risk low.
The cards themselves look great. From the common cards that look so authentic to their real-life counterparts, to the holographic borders on the rare and ex cards. There’s a layer of sheen and pop that just can’t exist on a physical card. That’s not even mentioning the full arts that have popping out layers with depth that you can experience by rotating the cards while inspecting them. Then there’s the stunning immersive art cards that let you dive inside the card to fully appreciate the stunning work done by the amazing Pokémon TCG artists.
Despite concerns I have with the range of in-game currencies, I’m honestly really excited for Pokémon TCG Pocket. I’ve loved the real card game for years, and being able to play a stripped back speedy version on the go has some real appeal to me.
Pokémon TCG Pocket is set to launch on 30 October 30, for iOS and Android devices.