I’m not normally one for mobile games. I have never been a fan of their more casual nature, reliance on heavily monetised systems, and stripped back and dumbed down gameplay. But, when you make a mobile game out of something I very much enjoy, then you’re likely to attract my attention. I love collecting cards from the Pokémon Trading Card Game, something I have been invested in for well over two decades. I’m also familiar with, and know the basics of, the actual game that revolves around those same cards. So when The Pokémon Company announced a mobile version of the TCG that allowed you to not only play the game, but also open booster packs, collect cards, and create collections with in-game binders, my ears immediately pricked up.
In the few days I’ve had with Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (TCGP) I have managed to amass a collection of over 400 cards without spending a single penny on the game at all. This isn’t something I was necessarily expecting given my disdain towards the monetisation in other mobile games, but Pokémon TCGP is generous enough to keep players engaged on a day to day basis by offering (at least) two booster packs to open within a 24 hour period. As well as this, it also offers additional avenues to open more booster packs as well through daily missions, leveling up, and rewards from completing solo battles against AI.
There are also ways to target the cards that you specifically want as well. Through a system called “Wonder Pick” you are able to see the booster pack opening results of both friends and other players around the world. If they have a card in their pack that you like the look of then you are able to use Wonder Pick to randomly select a single card from their pack for yourself (this doesn’t take the card away from them however). You might get something good, or you might get something basic, it’s entirely up to chance but I appreciate the addition (and also the ability to snoop on other people to see what cards they are getting). As you open booster packs you’ll also earn small amounts of “pack points” which can be used to simply exchange for the exact cards that you want, with rarer cards obviously costing more pack points. The game has also promised that a trading feature will be available in the future, allowing you to exchange duplicate cards with your friends.
As well as this I have to commend the card art in Pokémon TCGP, as it is absolutely fantastic (especially the full-art illustration rare cards). There are also a handful of classic cards from the physical card game dispersed in there too for good measure and it is always nice to see some old friends pop up. I sincerely hope that some of this card art releases in physical form somewhere down the line because I would love to have some of them in my binder with my other cards.
The loop of Pokémon TCGP is easy enough to understand. You open booster packs that contain five random cards of varying rarities, these five cards are then added into your overall collection, you can then choose to display your favourite cards in binders or display frames that friends and other players from around the world can view (and commend you on). You can also use your collection (once you have amassed enough of a variety) to build your own decks of 20 cards that you can then use in either solo battles against AI, or against other players online.
Battles are, as was to be expected, a dumbed down and simplified version of the main Pokémon TCG. Battles start with a coin flip to decide the first turn. Each player draws five cards and places a ‘Basic Pokémon’ in the active slot on the table. You can also add up to three Pokémon on your bench as reserves. Every turn, you receive ‘energy’ to attach to either your active or benched Pokémon, allowing them to launch attacks that vary in damage and effects. For every Pokémon you knock out, you score a point, and the first to reach three points wins the game.
Matches aren’t just won by raw power alone, however. Whilst making sure you have a strong core set of Pokémon in your deck these should be complemented with “Trainer Cards” that are split into categories such as “Supporter” and “Item” cards. Supporter cards can only be played once a turn and usually feature recognisable characters from the Pokémon world such as Professor Oak, or Gym Leaders such as Brock and Misty. Each of their cards offer different effects, and can only be played once a turn. For example, the Professor’s Research card allows you to draw two additional cards on your turn whilst a Gym Leader card, such as Sabrina, allows you to swap out your opponent’s active Pokémon for one on their bench. It might be simplified, but there is a genuine degree of strategy involved similar to its tabletop counterpart.
However, one of the main issues that currently faces Pokémon TCGP is that, at launch, there is only one set of cards available. Whilst there are hundreds of unique cards to collect, they substantially limit deck building variety as there are go-to combinations of cards that, simply put, make decks that are just better than everything else. This becomes very much apparent when you go into online play against other players. After a few days, an overall trend has started to form as a distinct meta reveals itself. If you are playing online then there is a very high chance that you will be pitted up against someone rolling one of two decks; either the Mewtwo EX/Gardevoir deck, or the Dragonite Draco Meteor deck. Both of these decks are absurdly powerful and require some very strong cards in order to put together. The Mewtwo EX/Gardevoir deck allows you to place up to three energies a turn onto one Pokémon if you synergise properly and, once the ball starts rolling, there is very little that can counter it. The same can be said of the Dragonite deck, which allows you to do absurd damage to not only your opponent’s active Pokémon but also their benched Pokémon as well.
Unfortunately, like many free-to-play games, Pokémon TCGP’s microtransactions are enough to tilt the scales towards the dreaded discourse surrounding “pay-to-win”. Players willing to invest real money can purchase bulk booster packs, making it easier to assemble powerful decks, like the Mewtwo EX/Gardevoir or Dragonite setups, that dominate the meta. On launch day, I saw plenty of unique, creative decks. Now, online matches feel repetitive as most players rely on these two setups. For those of us playing without spending, facing these ‘pay-to-win’ builds makes online battles a frustrating experience.
