Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Preview: A regression of the great TCG formula

Today, the ritual of collecting Pokémon cards has been replaced by a click on a screen. What was once a social and physical experience has been relegated to a cold, impersonal digital space. And Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket takes this to another level. Maybe it's the future. Maybe it's more convenient. Maybe it's more accessible. And in some ways, maybe it is. But in the process, we're losing something that goes far beyond mere nostalgia for the physical.

One of the most exciting aspects of collecting Pokémon cards was their tangible value. Holding the card in your hands, feeling the texture of the paper, watching how the light hit the holographic design. Digital collecting just doesn't have the same emotional weight or nostalgic value. You can't trade physical cards at lunchtime on the playground or feel the thrill of finding a rare card in a pack someone handed you after a trade. In Pokémon TCG Pocket, opening packs has become an automated, soulless process, where the only reward seems to be filling up a virtual collection that, at the end of the day, is tied to servers that could disappear at any moment. And in fact, they have disappeared in the past, which is exactly what concerns us the most (if you want to read more about this, click here).

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the digitalization of Pokémon TCG Pocket is a step toward accessibility. In theory, anyone can download the game, open packs, and collect cards without leaving their home. And sure, that has some appeal. But what they don't tell you is that this new format isn't actually more accessible. It's more profitable for the companies, not for the players. What used to be a one-time purchase of a physical pack has turned into an endless series of microtransactions, where each click is a new expense.

Even though the game is advertised as free, Pokémon TCG Pocket is not free-to-play but free-to-start, a small detail that changes the entire experience. At first, the game lets you open a few packs for free (two a day), but the real barrier shows up when you realise that to advance, win, and build a competitive collection, you need to spend real money. The game is designed to push players into making microtransactions, with the promise of unlocking exclusive cards and advancing faster, turning what could be a fun experience into a spiral of expenses. What used to be a physical and social exchange has transformed into a constant transaction. The goal isn't the game anymore; the goal is spending.

In Pokémon TCG Pocket, the simplification of the game is yet another example of how digital can sometimes cheapen, rather than enhance, an experience. The rules have been adjusted, the decks reduced, the matches shortened. Everything is designed to be quick, immediate, and instantly rewarding, as if the only way to hold our attention is by giving us small doses of fast satisfaction. But in that process, they've stripped away much of what made the original game special.

In Pokémon TCG Pocket, the main objective to win a match is to knock out three of your opponent's Pokémon. Each time an enemy Pokémon is defeated, you receive a prize card. This simplified system mirrors the original game, but with one key difference: instead of six prize cards, only three are used. This makes matches faster, wrapping up in about five minutes, which contrasts with the long, exciting battles we used to enjoy in the physical game.

EX cards introduce a new dynamic to the game. Powerful Pokémon like Articuno and Pikachu, which stand out in the starter set, offer superior performance by awarding two victory points instead of one when defeated. This feature can shorten match times even further and change player strategies, as facing and defeating an EX Pokémon can account for more than 50% of the points needed to win the match.

One of the most notable changes in Pokémon TCG Pocket is the modification of weaknesses and resistances. In the traditional game, weaknesses would double the damage received, while in Pocket, weaknesses only add 20 extra damage points. Resistances, on the other hand, have been removed altogether to simplify the game dynamics. This change, meant to make the game more accessible to new players, only simplifies it in the worst way.

In Pokémon TCG Pocket, the energy system has been restructured. Instead of using individual energy cards, the game introduces an "Energy Zone". This area functions similarly to energy zones in other card games. Players can accumulate energy in this zone over the course of their turns, allowing for faster and more dynamic management of the resources needed for attacks.

Decks have also been reduced from 60 to 20 cards. This adjustment aims to make matches shorter and quicker, removing energy cards from the deck to simplify deck-building and game flow. While this allows for more immediate strategies, it makes us miss the complex strategies we used to plan in the physical game.

As for digital collecting, Pokémon TCG Pocket lets you open two free card packs per day and watch animations to discover new cards. The game also includes holographic and scene cards for a more immersive experience. While it tries to capture some of the nostalgia of physical collecting, the experience remains quite different.

Finally, as is common in mobile games, Pokémon TCG Pocket includes microtransactions. Players can purchase additional packs and premium passes to access exclusive content. Although the game retains the social aspect with trades and matches against friends or AI, it fails to capture the essence of physical, social trading.

It's a shame, really, the direction this game has taken. You can tell they've put a lot of heart into the animations and card designs. But it's a pity that all that effort is overshadowed by the sole aim of profiting from the game, rather than offering players an experience worthy of the Pokémon trading card name. You can see their intentions a mile away. Instead of focusing on the player's experience, they've focused on creating a "pay-to-win," figuring out the best way to offer small doses of satisfaction so that you'll spend your money, which wouldn't be a bad thing if they also cared about creating a decent gaming experience. But they don't.

The strategy, the long-term planning, the tension of managing resources like energy in your deck... it's all been reduced to its bare minimum. They've removed resistances, cut the decks down to just 20 cards, simplified the victory conditions. What was once an accessible but deeply tactical game has turned into one that rewards speed and immediacy above all else.

And that's why, despite all the promises of Pokémon TCG Pocket, they will never replace what we had in the past if their only goal is to profit and figure out how to get players to spend as much money as possible, instead of trying to please them and offer a worthy experience: the thrill of opening a real card pack, trading with friends, the satisfaction of owning something tangible that exists in the real world. It's something that Pokémon TCG Pocket could have achieved. But it doesn't.