Pokémon Pocket is set to be released in October and represents a simplified version of the trading card game for your mobile phone. What can the game do?
When is Pokémon Pocket coming out? Pokémon Pocket will be released on October 30 as a mobile game for smartphones.
How much does the game cost? The download is free, but there will be optional in-app purchases.
What kind of game is Pokémon Pocket? Essentially, it is a new version of the trading card game for mobile. In fact, there is already a mobile version of the card game with TCG Live – so what makes Pokémon Pocket special? We will show you here.
Pokémon Pocket: The trading card game for on-the-go
What makes Pokémon Pocket special: We had the opportunity to test the game for nearly an hour, allowing us to gain a first impression of Pokémon Pocket.
While “Pokémon Trading Card Game Live” is quite a one-to-one translation of the real card game for mobile (or PC), Pokémon Pocket is more simplified and focuses on collecting cards.
When you download the game, you can open two free packs every day – you receive a free set every 12 hours. The opening is nicely animated and is intended to convey a similar feeling to opening a real booster pack.
The cards you receive end up in your collection. And that seems to be the main theme of the game: building a collection of cards with varying rarity levels. Because there are also different rarity levels of cards in Pokémon Pocket.
Particularly rare are so-called immersion cards. These are a special type of card where you really jump into the artwork of the card. For instance, there is a Pikachu card showing the little electric Pokémon in the woods. Then the scene shifts to show various Pokémon that inhabit this biome. Such cards go well beyond what is possible in the real TCG or even in TCG Live.
In addition to the packs, there are other ways to expand your collection. For example, there is the “Wonder Choice” – where you see sets from other trainers, and from which you can receive a random card.
You can present your collection in the game and show it to other trainers.
The cards in Pokémon Pocket are only partially the cards that exist in real life. There will be pocket-exclusive cards. Also, the sets found in the game do not correspond to their real-life counterparts, but represent their own variants.
But collecting cards isn’t everything. You can also use them.
Quick battles in Pokémon Pocket are ideal for beginners and for “playing a quick round”
The duels in Pokémon Pocket are noticeably simpler than the battles in the real trading card game or in TCG Live. While you might spend a good half hour dueling until a winner is found, that’s less likely to happen in Pokémon Pocket.
You play with significantly smaller decks, containing 20 cards instead of 60. Additionally, there are not the six prize cards from the larger model, instead, you simply earn points for defeating Pokémon – one for regular Pokémon, two for EX-Pokémon. The game ends after three points.
Another change: energy is generated every turn, you do not need energy cards.
This significantly speeds up the game. While testing, I felt a bit reminded of Marvel Snap, which also prefers quick card battles. Thus, Pokémon Pocket indeed becomes the “trading card game for on-the-go” that you can quickly play on the train, bus, or in similar situations.
You can play the duels against the computer or real opponents. Through the battles, you will complete missions with which you can shorten your set timer, among other things. There are also loan decks that you can earn – then you can also play cards that you might not have in your collection yet.
Overall, Pokémon Pocket feels like a beginner version of the trading card game. It may appeal to players who have always liked collecting Pokémon cards but never delved into the rules of the actual game: Here, they can get an insight into how the game fundamentally works. What do you think of the new card game? Let us know in the comments! And if you’re more into Pokémon GO: Here you can find all events in Pokémon GO in September 2024.
