This new Pokémon game is taking up all my free time
With the release of Pokémon TCG Pocket, I have no more free time. I’m cancelling all my appointments, postponing visits from friends, and you won’t see me without my phone. Instead, I will be sitting hunched over my phone screen like some sort of goblin, ripping open Pokémon TCG booster packs celebrating and lamenting card pulls.
Pokémon TCG Pocket finally brings the ever-popular trading card game to smart devices allowing for everything that usually comes with the card game to be experienced digitally. There’s all the usual card collecting, placing them in binders, admiring the outstanding artwork, and even a scaled-down version of the actual card game to be played against AI bots or people across the world.
It starts the way all good habits form, by drip-feeding you the good stuff. Here’s a booster pack to open, oh, and here’s some of our currency so you can open another booster pack before the charge time fills up. Of course, this being a mobile game everything is locked behind time gates or currencies but Pokémon TCG pocket is kind at the beginning.
Opening packs is a dopamine filled joy; tearing the foil sleeves opens before tapping through the cards in the hopes of landing an EX-shiny or a nice holo. Despite being a digital option for playing, everything feels tactile; the cards can be handled to catch the ‘light’ and show off holo effects, the booster pack wrapper has a crinkle to it, and the colours are vibrant to dazzle your senses.
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Soon, I was rising through the game’s levels, unlocking more and more features. Binders to store my cards, display boards to showcase my favourite art. The store offered up a trial to the monthly subscription so I grabbed that free two weeks and got some sweet currency to snag the Mewtwo card backs, flipping coin, and playmat for battling.
It has been many months since I last played the Pokémon TCG with friends. We all lead busy lives and it’s hard to meet up and show off cards or get in a few rounds but now I could do it from home and have the feeling of playing and collecting. It doesn’t beat holding the cardboard and laughing with buddies, however, it’s a great alternative.
The stripped down version of the TCG game is an absolute joy, offering faster ways to play by holding back how many cards you can play and using smaller deck sizes. Of course, this is all to suit a mobile platform - the game playmats fit a vertical screen so you bench fewer Pokémon, the 20 card deck limit stops games draggin on forever, as does the reduced number of points needed to win a round.
This is Pokémon TCG distilled and it’s refreshing. Suddenly I can squeeze in a few rounds over an early morning cup of tea. I can use my experience points gained to unlock new shop items - if I choose to part with my cash, which I haven’t yet - or use them, through currencies, to open more boosters.
And for a mobile game so obviously targeting earning money - the monthly pass is £7.99 - I’ve not spent anything yet and have over 120 cards in my collection. I claimed the free two weeks and cancelled the subscription immediately. Adding friends, completing missions and simply waiting yields enough boosters, plus you can grab extra cards via a system called wonder pick.
Wonder pick is a lovely features where you spend yet another currency to randomly received a card that has been in a friend, or stranger’s booster pack. You get a look at all five cards they received and then take a shot at getting one of those five cards.
Instead of being prohibitively closed off, it seems that Pokémon TCG Pocket aims, and wants, to let players slowly build a library of cards which can be showcased or compiled into a deck for online play. Yes, there’s monetisation, but that’s hardly a surprise when you see all the features here and all the work that’s gone into transposing this physical hobby into such a gorgeous digital version.
I’m fully expecting my access to booster packs will reduce a little over time, but new mechanics can be implemented to grab extra cards, just as The Pokémon Company will reveal and release new booster pack themes, decks to ‘borrow’ for trial use, and optional cosmetics to make the game more personalised.
Much like Pokémon Go, which became a daily-use app for me, I’ll be checking in each day. Sometimes it’ll be to play some rounds of the TCG game, other times I might take advantage on my wonder picks and booster packs to fill out my collection. And I can do all of it without having to spend a fortune or find space for physical cards, and I can enjoy the game without trudging down to my local card shop. And honestly, the thrill of ripping packs will be a nice little dopamine hit as I chase down the epic EX cards for my growing collection.
Topics: Pokemon