GamesAdventurePokemonGamescom 2024I’m a lifelong Pokemon fan who never clicked with the card game, but after a bit of Pokemon TCG Pocket I understand the battle system better than everWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAdventurePokemonGamescom 2024I’m a lifelong Pokemon fan who never clicked with the card game, but after a bit of Pokemon TCG Pocket I understand the battle system better than everWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
Pokemon Trading Card GamePocket – the mobile version of Pokemon’s hit physical card game – is almost here. From my hands-on time with the game, it looks like it’s managed to strike a solid balance between appealing to card collectors and battlers alike, all while maintaining what makes the TCG special.
At its core, TCG Pocket’s concept is simple: open and collect digital booster packs of Pokemon cards to build a collection to lovingly admire, and use them to battle against opponents in the 1v1 card game, which itself has been streamlined to suit the mobile app. Each day, players can open two booster packs (each containing five cards) for free, while those willing to splash their cash can get their hands on extras (but more on that later).
Right from the get-go, TCG Pocket throws you into the thrill of opening packs, and it’s immediately apparent that the developers have captured the small details you’d see in the physical card game to make opening the digital packs just as exciting. General manager at Creatures Inc., Ryo Tsujikawa, tells me (via interpreter) that the team “really prioritized on that sensation of opening the pack, that feeling of ‘I wonder what kind of Pokemon I’m gonna get,'” and that certainly comes through in the delivery.
Something old, something new
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
Gamescom 2024
(Image credit: Atlus)
Keeping it simple
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
As mentioned above, though, it’s not all about collecting the cards. Try as I might, I’ve never been able to get into the Pokemon card game like I have the video games, but I can fully see myself sinking hours into TCG Pocket’s simplified format. Each player wields a 20-card deck (a third of the size of a deck in the physical game), and rather than competing to be the first to earn six prize cards, it’s first to three points – you earn one when you knock out one of your opponent’s Pokemon, or two if you knock out a powerful EX card. Within 30 minutes of loading up the app for the first time, some hands-on tutorials concisely covered everything I needed to know about the quicker format, which was much appreciated given how rusty I was with the standard rules.
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Combined with the fact that you don’t need to spend any money at all to play TCG Pocket, all of this combines into a package that makes the mobile game feel very approachable. Tsujikawa explains that rather than just aiming for an audience consisting entirely of existing TCG fans or newcomers, the team was hoping to pick up on those who “wanted to go into TCG but were a bit intimidated, or people who stepped into TCG but were kind of like, ‘OK, this is a bit difficult,'” and coming away from my hands-on experience, I can see this being the case.
Pokemon(itization)
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
Coming away from my hands-on session, I can definitely see TCG Pocket being a mainstay on my phone as soon as it’s out. With new cards available to open every 12 hours, there’s always going to be a reason to log in frequently, and I’m excited to see how deep the streamlined battle system goes, too. Now though, I’m just hoping I’ll be as lucky with the cards I get when the game launches.
GamesRadar+ was in Cologne playing the most anticipatednew games of 2024, and speaking to the developers bringing them to life. For more of our hands-on previews and exclusive interviews, visit theGamescom 2024coverage hub.
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