Like the remaining of the PokeWorld, I’ve downloaded Pokemon TCG Pocket. I wasn’t into it enough to go on holiday to Latest Zealand to be able to play early like many others, but I’ve hopped into the total release because FOMO gonna FOMO.
I’ve done well. I’ve opened around 50 packs and hit some bangers. Two Zapdos ex allows me to construct a deck around certainly one of my favourite monsters within the TCG (I ran an Electropower Zapdos deck back in Sun & Moon Team Up), and there are a bunch of random alt arts that look amazing, too.
Illustrated copies of Gyarados, Electrode, Cubone, and Dragonite all look great. I’ve also managed to tug two full art ex cards in Blastoise and Articuno, and the highlight of my collection is the immersive art Mewtwo ex, which comes with its own cutscene of Mewtwo breaking out of containment.
I’ll give Pokemon TCG Pocket its dues: it makes pulling cards feel great. The 3D holo effects are beautiful, the pack rip itself is satisfying and surprisingly tactile, and I like just teasing the cards forwards and backwards to see them glisten.
But that’s where the positivity ends. Pokemon TCG Pocket is a game ruled by currencies and timers. There’s a currency for reducing the timer before you may open packs, there’s a currency for reducing the timer before you may Wonder Pick again, there’s a currency to purchase these currencies, there’s a currency to purchase cosmetics, there’s a currency to purchase individual cards, there’s a currency you may only get for those who buy the battle pass, and naturally there’s a currency that you simply buy together with your real money to be able to skip all of it and open more packs.
It’s exhausting just writing that, and it’s even worse playing the sport. It took me hours to work out what the little purple tokens even did; I kept earning them and couldn’t work out where or find out how to spend them.
That is why the developer made packs feel so good. To make you ought to open more. While you start the sport, you’re flush with currency from completing all of the initial objectives. The primary hit’s free, as they are saying. And when you’ve pulled a couple of ex cards or illustrated rares, you’re hooked. You desire to skip the timer. You desire to buy the skip currency together with your other currency. You desire to skip again. No more currency. You possibly can buy some gold, but you shouldn’t… Ah, flip it.
I’m not averse to games earning money. If we would like to maintain playing them, we want to pay for them. But when the stuff you’re spending money on are so obfuscated, when it’s so complicated to navigate exactly what you’re getting on your hard-earned dollars, it rubs me the flawed way.
I’d prefer it if the sport just put a price tag on packs. I believe it costs about 70p per pack, but fewer people would buy them if the fee wasn’t so confusing. It looks like a superb deal for those who’re getting 10 packs for 50 gold. But when you consider spending eight quid on a bunch of digital pictures, it feels a bit more disappointing.
And that is where my final problem rears its pixelated head. Digital cards just aren’t the identical as their physical counterparts. I pulled the immersive art Mewtwo ex, but can I show my friends? Nope. Aside from a bit display on my profile, there’s no way of sharing my joy.
There’s no trading (although that’s coming). There’s no approach to do a pack battle or play for keeps like I loved to do on the playground as a child. I can’t get them graded to display them in my office, I can’t scour eBay for the best art of my favourite monsters. If I stop playing, there’s no way I can sell my collection to recoup a few of the costs.
I’ve spent money on digital cosmetics before. I’m not against it. I purchased Fuse’s heirloom in Apex Legends (although I made sure to tug one naturally first). It looks cool, and it’s a approach to support a game that I’ve poured hundreds of hours into. But I believe of Concord and worry. What happens if Apex is not any longer deemed profitable for EA? The identical goes for Pokemon TCG Pocket.
I like opening packs on my phone. But I do know that TCG Pocket wants me to like doing that, wants me to spend my money opening more to get that illustrated Gengar. And in getting drawn into this self-destructive serotonin-boosting loop, I’m paying real money for pretty pictures on my phone. That’s not something I enjoy.
