Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket Aims to offer a new bite-sized take on the card battling experience, designed for briefer play with an emphasis on collection and special art. The game comes from DeNA, the same developer behind other mobile games like Mario Kart tourIn collaboration with The Pokemon Company and Creatures Inc. earlier this month, Screen Rant Attend a special hands-on event that offers several hours with the game, Give a better idea of what fans can expect from the title when it launches later this fall.
Although there were concerns about an overlap between Pokémon TCG Live And PocketThe latter distinguishes itself by leaning much more heavily into the collection aspects of the game rather than fighting. The game's artists have greatly embraced the possibilities that the medium allows when it comes to card designs, pursuing ambitious art that is only possible with a digital format. It is much easier to browse and sort your owned cards PocketAnd the competition aspects have been pared back to be more easily digestible.
During the event, a sentiment often expressed by the Creatures Inc. Team was that The new game is meant to be a jumping off point for new fans. Ideally, for players who are perhaps more interested in the art and collection side of things will find Pocket Much easier to dive into, especially if they've ever felt alienated from other titles because they're unfamiliar with all the ins and outs of TCG combat.
Collecting in Pokémon TCG Pocket
Cards meant for showing off
in his heart, Pokémon TCG Pocket is about collection, and it gives players ample ways to build their card decks and customize how they display it. The first expansion for the game is Genetic Apex, and includes over 200 cards in total of varying rarities. The rarity system in Pocket is unique to the title, with cards being ranked either 1-4 diamonds, or 1-3 stars depending on type.
Two packs can be opened per day for freeWith each booster pack containing five cards. While the game certainly leans towards exploring designs that might not work on paper cards, it also aims to retain much of the feeling that comes with opening physical packs.
Players will swipe to tear off the top of each pack, and can swipe through each card they received, and each one can be slightly manipulated by touch to see the whole thing in a way that gives it a sense of thickness and depth. Swiping up and adds the acquired cards to the decks, showing where they fit into what players have already collected.
Related
Cards can be acquired faster through the use of hourglasses, which shorten the time until more packs can be opened. Players also get a certain amount of Wonder Picks per day, which is where they can pick a pack recently opened by another player to get a card. This won't take the card away from the other player - it's just another way for fans to seek out a collectionAlthough the specific card players wind up with is random. Wonder Peaks use their own steams apart from regular pack opening, which can be accelerated with Wonder Hourglasses.
The game blends classic card designs that will be familiar to fans of the physical game with new digital expressions that really bring new life to existing characters. This is especially true for the immersive cards – of which the first set has three – included in the game, which take players into an entire scene as players expand them. During my playthrough, I was able to collect Pikachu's Immersive Card, which took me on a short journey through a forest filled with gorgeous scenery and other Pokemon, like a herd of ponies, polywags swimming together, and an adorable napping Pikachu. .
Pokémon TCG Pocket Battles
Streamlined combat in bite-sized doses
Pokémon TCG Pocket It doesn't completely do away with the battling mechanics of the physical gameBut instead it turned into something more compact and digestible for "pocket size" Moments of playtime. Instead of a 60 card deck, Pocket Only uses 20, and energy cards are non-existent in this title. One energy is generated automatically in the corner of the battle screen each turn and can be placed with the same rules as the physical game; If a player has a deck with multiple energy types, the type generated each turn will be random.
The bank now only holds three Pokemon, but the system of how it works in regard to determining the active character remains the same. Prize cards are also a thing of the past – players will instead earn one point each time they beat a Pokemon, and two points if it was an EX card, with the first getting to three points claiming victory. During my preview, I only played against the computer, but there is also the option for head-to-head battles, as well as an auto-battle system for players who want to especially focus on collection and not combat.
Players have a few options when it comes to building Pokemon Deck in Pocket. Rental decks are prebuilt sets with a limited number of uses that can be earned by completing deck missions, which is a nice pre-fab way to jump in with a specially-themed collection. Alternatively, players can build their own deck entirely from scratch, or use the auto-build feature, which can automatically create a deck with two Pokemon types from the existing cards in a collection.
Customization and progress in Pokémon TCG Pocket
Exp, missions, and lots of currencies
As players battle and open packs, they'll earn EXP to level up, and receive goodies like watchglasses at each milestone. There are also several other in-game currencies to be earned from different sources: Shop Tickets, Emblem Tickets, Special Shop Tickets and Event Shop Tickets are all used to purchase various types of accessories. These are earned mainly by completing in-game missions that will be familiar to mobile game players - these are small tasks split into different sections, like daily missions to open a certain number of packs, or deck missions to build certain collections.
There are several main ways players can customize and display their ever-growing collection: Binders are customized selections of cards chosen by players to showcase what they want, with different cover art options that can be obtained through missions or the. store, while display boards focus on a single impressive draw that can be set against different backgrounds. Coins, card sleeves, and play mats can also be acquired to differentiate profiles, and cards themselves can have flair—special visual effects like sparkles—added to them through Shinedust, which is created by breaking down duplicate cards.
It should be noted that although the baseline game is free, there are multiple paid options available to players, although currently only in regard to the time it takes to open packs and special cosmetics. Poke Gold is sold in amounts of five and up for 99 cents, and can be spent to reduce the time it takes to open packs. A Special Premium Pass for the game, which clocks in at $9.99 per month, ups the daily pack total to three, and allows access to premium missions that will come with special aesthetic rewards and cards with unique art.
Final thoughts on Pokemon TCG Pocket
An impressive artistic endeavor that is a great introduction
There are still some lingering questions about the title, some of which even the developers haven't even fully settled on. For example, when it comes to how long specific sets will be available to players, Screen Rant had the following exchange with the creative director at Creatures Inc. Ryo Tsujikawa:
Screen Rating: Can you talk a little about how long different collections will be available to players? Will there be many instances of players missing if they don't play for a minute?
Ryo Tsujikawa: To be quite honest with you, we actually don't have all the details finalized for exactly how this will work, in the distant future, what expansions will be available at any time. Just to repeat, the focus is on collecting all the Pokemon cards in a casual way, we know that the expectations of the players will be that they can also get the previous cards, so this is something that we will focus on and think about a lot When we come up with how we operate the game.
I also walked away from the preview wondering what the future of in-game purchases would look like. It felt like an almost confusingly-large number of different currencies in the gameAnd while premium missions currently only affect things like art and items available to players, it's possible that it's not set in stone. It's impossible to say exactly how much microtransactions will affect the game, but it's certainly something to keep an eye on.
Regardless of lingering questions, as someone who is always intimidated by starting a physical card collection due to space constraints, this game felt like an excellent solution to that hurdle. It serves as a great jumping off point for new players too – while some may not enjoy the simplifications, as a newbie it was nice to be able to dive straight into the game without absorbing too much new information. Players will be able to start building their decks and jump into battle whenever Pokémon TCG Pocket Releases at the end of next month.
- Released
-
October 30, 2024
- developer(s)
-
Dena, Creatures Inc.
- Publisher(s)
-
The Pokemon Company