Pokémon TCG Pocket 4+

I don’t leave reviews very often, so this is already a big statement on its own. As an avid pokemon tcg collector and player myself, being able to easily collect and play pokemon cards whenever I want for free is huge. However, I was always bad at deckbuilding and playing compared to others I played with irl due to the sheer number of expansions and overpowered win conditions. This game makes it much easier, with every aspect of collecting and battle having a reduced magnitude that makes gameplay more straightforward. There aren’t a lot of cards to worry about in the base expansion, overall weaker cards, and fewer game mechanics to factor into battle like no energy cards and no prize cards. I also really like the many novel mechanics this game offers to the table, such as wonder picks allowing you to randomly collect another player’s card from their last booster pack, and thanking players after battles and wonder picks for free rewards, giving a strong vibe of a friendlier community, a problem I have with other mobile games like clash royale.

Tldr, this game makes collecting and playing pokemon tcg more streamlined and provides a stripped-down battle system that satisfies players like me who can’t deckbuild around every aspect of the game very well.

They are very clearly actively developing this game, however, there are currently som very clear flaws that need work. For example there is currently nothing to do with duplicate cards. They appear to be working on a trading feature which will be good. Though I wish there were a way to exchange them for currency that can be saved up to purchase cards that you want or need. That would allow a deck building process to go more smoothly and make cards much more accessible to players.

Secondly there is a problem with the online battling system. For example, today I won a game because my opponent disconnected. I waited for the game to get to the win screen where it shows the most valuable card. The game had already expressed that it was a victory and so I closed the app. Because I closed the app it was counted as a loss and it went against me rather than for me. Even though I had already won. The match had already been decided and my opponent wasn’t even online.

That being said I hope that it continues to get attention from the development team as I genuinely enjoy the concept of a fast pace Pokémon TCG with smaller decks. It makes building a deck more convenient and collecting easier as you only need a maximum of two copies. I hope this review is taken as honest criticism meant to help the developers and not any disliking of the game. I just feel that it could be made better through a few tweaks. Thank you all for making the game.