So I Tried… Pokémon TCG Pocket

 Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket.

Ever since I got into trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic the Gathering, I’ve always wanted to play and learn the Pokémon TCG, the last of the big three I haven’t really played. I was actually pretty excited upon its reveal months earlier. Funnily enough, I actually did register to download the game and totally forgot about it, so it has been sitting on my phone since its release; so why not check it out now?

What I thought

I think it’s like the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links version of the Pokémon TCG: a simplified version of the main game meant for quick matches while still providing the complexity of the original game. From what I hear, the Pokémon TCG is probably one of the easier games to get into since it is aimed more at a younger audience, so it’s likely more user-friendly than what I’m used to.

Now, I do have a basic understanding of the main game, but consider me a complete noob for having never played a match. The closest I’ve ever been to actually playing the TCG is seeing a pile of unused Pokémon card codes that my older brother has for their other online game that I’m surprised is still going.

What it actually is

It’s… exactly what I expected: The Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links of the Pokémon TCG. After going through the login process and fixing some crashing issues, I finally got access to the game. Playing a real match against an opponent goes by pretty quickly due to smaller deck size and only needing three minimum wins to beat your opponent instead of the usual six. It’s unbalanced, but it is a phone game and you’re not expected to be hunched over your phone for hours.

However, I’m going to assume most people just want to collect cards and the game accommodates that crowd. It does fit in with Pokémon’s old tagline: “Gotta catch ‘em all!” until you couldn’t. It’s actually pretty addictive opening packs… which is probably why the game will encourage you to buy items to speed up timers so you can open more packs. Two boosters a day when you’re trying to assemble a good deck or collect a set will take some serious time if you’re trying to play for free.

Will I keep playing

Actually, probably not… because the game takes up too much storage on my phone and I don’t want to develop unhealthy spending habits. I mean, it’s a fine game with some incredible use of its cards, having several cards that are more like 3D paintings. But with the microtransactions and too much encouragement to spend real money, I needed to uninstall the game afterwards. I might try and get through the game as a free player if I get a new phone (which I managed to do for Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]"), but given the fact that I’ve felt myself thinking about buying those timer-reducing items… yeah, I should drop out before it becomes a problem.