There is no doubt that Pokémon is one of the most profitable franchises of all time, and that any product that bears its name is covered in gold is a reality as big as a house. Even so, sometimes its success can exceed the expectations of the company itself, as has been the case with the launch of the Pokémon Pocket Trading Card Game for mobile phones, both iOS and Android.
Personally, as soon as I found out that they were going to launch a mobile version of the classic card game of the saga, I didn’t doubt for a second that it would be a resounding success, although clearly completely unaware of the number of downloads it would reach. It was obvious that it wasn’t going to reach the stratospheric numbers of Pokémon Go and it is only logical, Niantic’s game was designed for a much more general audience, of people who in many cases had never played any video game in their entire lives. This new release, however, is the complete opposite, it is aimed at a more specific audience, that of collectors and fans of card games in general or Pokémon specifically.
Pokémon Pocket TCG surpasses ten million downloads in 48 hours
On Wednesday, October 30, the Pokémon Pocket Trading Card Game app was launched globally on both the AppStore for iPhone and the PlayStore for Android phones. The game, developed by DeNA and Creatures Inc, is based on the classic card game but simplified its mechanics to make it more adaptable to the mobile game format. It is not limited to simply opening envelopes and collecting cards, but we can also create our own decks and face both the AI and other players.
The public’s positive reception was not long in coming and in just 48 hours it was downloaded by more than 10 million users, surprising even The Pokémon Company itself, which is in charge of distributing the title.
Wow. Completely awestruck here. 😳
— Pokémon TCG Pocket (@PokemonTCGP) November 2, 2024
Thank you to everyone who helped #PokemonTCGPocket reach over 10 million downloads! We're incredibly grateful and hope everyone continues to enjoy the game. There are more great things to come!
🌐 https://t.co/pWNREzTPb3 pic.twitter.com/LdmHCkB40e
Differences between the traditional card game and its mobile version
During the games, the mobile version is based on the traditional card game but simplified the formula to make them more dynamic and accessible.
- Energy cards have been removed and instead we have a pool where they are automatically generated in each hand, announcing what type of energy will be generated in the next hand (both ours and our opponent’s) in order to develop our strategy
- The decks contain 20 cards instead of the 60 of the original game.
- Only 3 Pokemons can be stored instead of the usual 5.
- Finally, the prize cards that were obtained by defeating the opponent’s active Pokémon have been removed. Instead, when we defeat the opponent’s Pokémon we get a point; the first player to add 3 points wins, instead of the 6 that the original game required.
New features on the way
At the moment, the only card packs that can be opened are those from the Formidable Genes collection, although it has not been officially announced, it is likely that the collections of packs will vary over time. We can deduce this from the information provided by the help section of the pack-opener points, which states the following:
“If the availability period of a given booster pack ends, its pack-opener points can no longer be exchanged.”
From this clarification we can deduce that in the future the current booster packs will be replaced by another collection.
Another very interesting feature that is on the way is the possibility of exchanging cards, although it is not indicated when it will be available, when entering the community section we can see the exchange button with a coming soon sign.