Pokemon TCG Pocket is Here!

After a limited rollout to select countries that certainly gave the VPN sellers of the world a solid 2-month boost in sales, the full release of Pokemon TCG Pocket is here and you can install to begin your card collecting and battling journey today.

For those who missed all of the hype leading up to this moment, let’s recap this game, as both Tim and I apparently moved to New Zealand in recent weeks to give it a test.

Pokemon TCG Pocket (the TCG stands for Trading Card Game) is the newest Pokemon release that attempts to give you the satisfaction of opening physical Pokemon card packs, only in digital form. You can collect the Genetic Apex series from Pikachu, Charizard, and Mewtwo packs that include 5 cards. The game gives you 2 pack opening opportunities each day and it is actually fun to do. I think they nailed the digital opening system, including the excitement of a big card pull and the regular disappointment of another Farfetch’d.

There’s a swipe to tear the pack, you can flip them backwards to add more mystery to the experience, and of course, try to collect them all. When presented with a pack, you choose from the three different Pokemon and then swipe around a carousel of packs to pick just the right one. It’s pretty cool.

The cards have various versions that are rated in a diamond system, with some offering special art variations that can get very fun to watch. Some also look 3D and are interactive to a certain extent, plus you can create your own binders of your top cards or show off the best in display boards.

You can create 20-card decks for battling other players or bots. Since the decks are only 20 cards, this is not the full TCG experience and is geared towards a quicker pace that is easier to pick up and play. For example, you just get energy with each draw and the battles really can start and end quite quickly.

Even though this is a version of Pokemon TCG, there is no trading of cards at this time. There is a button for trading built into the game, but it is only labeled as “Coming soon.” Here’s to hoping that happens on the sooner end of soon.

Since this is a digital game and Pokemon probably expects to make a boatload of money from it, there is digital currency, a premium subscription if you want to boost the number of packs you get to open each day, a shop that lets you buy some stuff, and missions or tasks to do each day to help you open more packs and do more with the game.

I can tell you that I’ve been playing it for weeks and have never really felt the pressure to pay a dime. I did subscribe to the premium pass initially, because the game was offering it free for a couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for that promo. But because I do test things for a living, I did fork out some cash for science and to open 10-pack bundles a couple of times – it wasn’t worth it, although it was a blast to go through that many cards at once.

Anyways, I’ve written far too much about a digital Pokemon card game, but it’s pretty fun and free to play. Opening and collecting Pokemon cards never gets old, even as I do.

The game is available on Android and iOS.

Google Play Link: Pokemon TCG Pocket (iOS)