Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket hands-on preview – evolution of the Pocket Monsters-GameCentral-Entertainment – Metro

Pokémon TCG Pocket – for virtual collectors (The Pokémon Company)

A new virtual version of the Pokémon Trading Card Game is out next month, and it mixes beautifully animated cards with a shockingly expensive subscription.

At the Pokémon World Championships in Hawaii this year there was a definite buzz, and long queues, not just for the Pokémon Center and its exclusives but for a sneak peek at the new mobile game Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket – the latest attempt to recreate the hugely popular card game as a mobile app. Large screens displayed packs being furiously slashed in the style of Fruit Ninja, as spectators and competitors tried to get one of the converted animated immersive art cards.

These special cards are almost like an episode of Pokémon Horizons in their own right, with beautifully animated scenes that highlight both the Pocket Monsters themselves and their environment. Fans’ hearts melted and you could instantly tell that The Pokémon Company was onto a winner. Even the non-animated exclusive art cards, featuring Pokémon such as Sabrina and Articuno, made competitors wish they could instantly start using them in competition.

During the tournament closing ceremony, it was confirmed, by The Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara, that Pokémon TCG Pocket will launch on October 30. But I wanted to know more and already Reddit was awash with speculation about microtransactions and how these new digital card packs might reflect the physical card game meta.

Luckily, I was able to attend a sneak preview earlier this month, where I discovered that the game is not, as many fans had assumed, a reworking of the existing Pokémon Trading Card Game Live app but a new game that’s more about aesthetics than competitive mechanics.

Battling takes a back seat in TCG Pocket, since at its core it is about building and managing an animated card collection. Players who log in regularly are rewarded with the excitement of opening at least two booster packs daily (one every 12 hours) and an option to reduce wait times through in-game rewards like Pack Hourglasses and Poké Gold – which, as everyone suspected, cost real money.

Each digital TGC pack contains five cards from the first digital card set, called Genetic Apex. Genetic Apex booster packs are available in three variants – Pikachu, Charizard and Mewtwo – and each of these Pokémon has an immersive card to look out for. But as much as I was initially mesmerised by the intricate animations, holographic borders, and simulated card thickness I can’t help but wonder how TCG Pocket will compete with and replicate the physical act of collecting in the long term.

Pokémon TCG Pocket – it’s all about building a collection (The Pokémon Company)

These packs heavily reference the first generation of Pokémon and re-use TCG artwork for some decent nostalgia of the base set onward. Featuring over 200 cards and three unique pieces of pack artwork, the set uses diamonds at the bottom of the card to designate rarity. The lowest rarity pull is four common cards and one uncommon card, but this varies, and you can end up pulling cards of multiple rarities in a single booster pack.

I loved that the cards can be moved on screen to create a parallax effect and that you can also customise card animations and exchange duplicate cards with other people. Just like the physical card game, new expansions are planned to be released regularly in an attempt to keep the gameplay (and your collection) fresh.

The game also introduces an intriguing feature called Wonder Pick, where you can select a card at random from a pack opened by another player, anywhere in the world. This could potentially be a player in Japan, granting you a cool Japanese language card and adding to the sense of community.

This also adds a layer of strategy, as Wonder Picks can unlock rare or promotional cards but are limited by a stamina system that is replenished over time. While lacking the location-based immersion of Pokémon Go I’m sure there will be plenty of discourse and eventually trading (which is not available at launch) around this feature.

Just like the playmats and binders available at every local gaming shop, customisation is another key feature in TCG Pocket, allowing players to personalise their decks and collections at a deep level. From custom animations and card covers to profile emblems, there are numerous ways to add flair to your virtual binder. Cute tokens of Evee and other customisation items can be earned through missions or purchased in the in-game shop using a variety of tickets.

Pokémon TCG Pocket battles have been greatly streamlined, offering quick, strategic matches as well as a swipe and drop card-based play style – think Marvel Snap but cuter. The traditional 60-card deck has been slimmed down to 20 cards, and battles now follow a points-based system. Prize cards have been removed, and you earn points by knocking out opponent’s Pokémon, with the first player to three points claiming victory (complete with a screen showing your MVP Pokémon of the match).

The biggest change to battling is Energy Zone, a new mechanic where you must manage a shared pool of energy that can be allocated to your Pokémon each turn. This replaces the traditional method of attaching energy cards directly to Pokémon. Auto-generated energy and auto-calculated HP definitely make it easy for players who don’t have time for physical card gaming to feel as though they can get in on some quick battle action.

For players looking for even more flexibility, the game offers various battle modes, including local multiplayer, global online matches, and even auto-battling – for those who are happy to basically spectate an AI game. During the hands-on preview this mode was useful to quickly get a grasp of the mechanics and an overview of how gameplay unfolds, but it can be toggled on and off as you wish. The simplified deck-building options still allow custom decks abut also have auto-build suggestions, while rental decks are also available.

Pokémon TCG Pocket is a fun, virtual trading card game but while it is free to play time costs, and that‘s where you start paying. Pokémon TCG Pocket has a Premium Pass for £9.99 a month, which unlocks additional booster packs, premium missions, and exclusive cosmetic items like playmats and card sleeves. It’s entirely optional but it’s hugely expensive for a feature that the game is clearly going to try and push as much as possible.

Taken at face value though Pokémon TCG Pocket is a wonderful new obsession for Pokéfans. The joy of card collecting combined with the animated features and engagingly quick, fun battles are a potent combination. Whether it will supplant the actual physical card game remains to be seen but at the very least it seems to be a worthy companion.

Pokémon TCG Pocket is due to be released on iOS and Android devices on October 30.

Pokémon TCG Pocket – battling is a relatively minor part of the game (The Pokémon Company)

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