By: Daniel Kendle

Hey everyone, welcome to JOYSTiCK Reviews, the only gaming serial to specify that the “i” in our logo IS meant to be in undercase. Now, normally I like to write my articles in a calm, relaxed location, like a farm, or a lakeside resort. But today, in celebration of my subject matter, I’m currently writing these words whilst sitting in my newest point of interest: a casino!

Call me Mr. Pachinko Machine (and soon to be homeless), ‘cause I and others are hitting big here. I mean, you’ve got the man over at the baccarat station, a group of old ladies playing poker, a guy on the floor who’s probably more booze than human at this point…all the makings of a playground of wonder, magic, and cholesterol-induced heart attacks.

However, you may have connected the dots so far, and are currently expecting me to say that today’s subject endorses these barbaric practices. Well, I can’t say my verdict yet, as today we’re going to find out the answer to this controversial question: “Is ‘Pokemon TCG Pocket’ a form of gambling?”

Well, let’s find out! Readers, make sure to lock your wallet with an iron chain and throw away the key, because today we’re examining the game ‘Pokemon TCG Pocket.’

Prior to its release, the app was compared to the relatively-recent fad of NFT’s (non-fungible tokens). These were digital pieces of art that could be bought, and basically became exclusive to that person. They could fluctuate in price, and had the lovely distinction from other forms of art of being real dumb.

The fad died down after a year or 2, thankfully – prices plummeted, and most people stepped away from the practice after realizing this. The fact is that paying for digital pictures of monkeys in hats when you could just take a screenshot of one for free is a bad idea. But in its wake comes this app, which has caused many to wonder whether or not the Pokemon franchise has finally tossed its hat into the NFT ring.

If you’re still confused as to what the game’s contents are, they’re trading cards. The Pokemon Trading Card Game’s been kicking since the 1990’s, equal to the video games in terms of popularity. They’re a global phenomenon, so much so that even your’s truly has collected them.

This year I began collecting the physical cards again; I don’t play the card game itself (though I might try to after playing today’s subject), but I just really like the art on the cards. It’s a hobby that I carefully regulate: I prefer buying randomized booster packs, so it’s important to not dish out ludicrous amounts of dough for a chance at some pricey cards. I’ve seen people get addicted to buying packs, and I don’t want to go down that path.

That leads us to ‘Pocket’ once again. Some already accuse the physical card game of promoting child-friendly gambling, so when you take the medium to a digital front, it’s not a very good look. But today I’m on the defensive, here to explain that things aren’t always black and white.

Never mind.

Let’s take a look at ‘Pocket.’ The game – or software, as I’ll use alongside synonyms interchangeably – is a 2024 title released to mobile devices this October. It centers around opening packs of Pokemon cards, collecting them, and using them to build decks. These decks can be used in a simplified version of the physical card game, only now able to be played against both online players and computers.

Along with these fundamentals, you can also finish missions by completing specific parts of the prior activities listed, gaining rewards from doing so. Finally, you can use the Wonder Pick feature to see what other people around the world have pulled from packs. Using one of the game’s “currency” systems, you can spend a few points to be able to randomly select a copy of 1 of the person’s 5 pulled cards. This means that both of you get a card; you don’t steal cards from other people.

To start, I think that the act of opening booster packs is…fine? Every 12 hours you get a free pack, meaning that you get 2 per day. When you select the expansion you want to pull cards from (for now there’s only 1), you select 1 of 3 types of packs, each with different cards.

Finally, you get a circle of packs, in which you choose 1 to open, receiving 5 cards. This system works fine, I suppose. I think that having 3 different types of booster packs in each set is weird, though – in the physical card expansion, each has multiple different packs with different art on the front, similar to the digital ones here. The difference is that each booster, despite the different cover art, has a random assortment of the same pool of cards, which is much larger than the 3 mini-pools in ‘Pocket. ’ It’s a strange choice, and I can’t say I’m a fan; it just makes collecting cards take much longer, since you’re more likely to get repeats. There is overlap with more common cards between the 3 types of packs in the expansion, but the rarer cards are exclusives.

I’ve heard conflicting reports on whether or not the packs generate the cards inside before you open it or after. I’d prefer if they were generated upon opening the booster, but since the game’s so new, I’ll need more time to look into this. If they generate before opening packs, then I guess having the circle of packs you get to choose from makes more sense, but I like that less.

Still, I wouldn’t say any of this equates to gambling necessarily – you can’t directly pay for packs, and the cards you get aren’t exclusive to you; theoretically, there’s an infinite amount of cards a person can pull. They’re not the same as normal memorabilia, where eventually an artificial item of any kind stops being produced. Until the inevitable wheel of time ends, or – more unlikely – ‘Pocket’ and Pokemon as a whole stops being profitable, digital cards will be procured forever.

Going back to the first point for a second, you can’t spend money on the packs. The closest you can do is buy a membership that allows you a 3rd pack every 24 hours. I don’t have it, but I still hold my tongue on calling it immoral. Really, breaking down the software’s transactional components reveals its relative innocence. If people are to accuse ‘Pocket’ of enforcing betting, then they might as well do the same for the physical card game, which, seeing as it’s been around since the late 90’s, is likely a dead argument. The only difference between the digital and physical card games is in the mediums.

In short, the game endorsing gambling is, in my opinion, not true, and never really has been for the card game. In order to be defined as such, the packs would’ve needed to not reward players with anything; basically just taking their money in exchange for a chance at a prize. Instead, we get cards, and on top of that can use them to play a game. And rounding it all off, you can’t buy packs with money and get them for free, with an added option to buy the ability for more free packs.

Collecting the cards is fun, though – it’s part of the reason I have issues with getting them in the first place. A fair amount of card art was recycled from older, physical sets for the digital game’s first expansion, but both the old and new art for cards looks wonderful. In particular, I quite like the Lapras Illustration Rare card, since it’s my favorite generation 1 Pokemon.

This veers into complaining about the booster opening again, but I do think that 5 cards for each pack is much too small. Completing each expansion and trying to pull cards in order to create a deck is hard when the chance for duplicates is high. For some reason, I’m drawn to there being 7 in each pack: the extra 2 would go a long way in helping obtain deck material-monsters. But overall, collecting is a part of the game that I enjoy a ton. It’s fun seeing my count go up, scrolling down my grid, and hyping myself up to try and pull a rare card. Those rare cards often have effects in battle that make them stronger than other comparable cards, so they’re not just pretty, but very useful in ‘Pocket’s’ PVP (player vs. player) meta!

Speaking of which, I said earlier that I don’t know how to play the physical card game, but surprisingly-enough, I think my favorite part of the game is battling others! The simplified mechanics work well for a mobile experience, and it’s clear that the developers intended matches to be quick and exciting, something that you could play in between classes, for example.

I’m not going to go over the rules due to the time, but in short, it’s a lot of fun. If you get the mobile game, you unlock the ability to battle others when your account reaches level 3, so by opening a few packs and completing the built-in tutorial for the match system, you’ll be able to quickly get into battling. I’ve never played them, but I can imagine ‘Pocket’s’ battling system being reminiscent of a slimmed-down version of ‘Hearthstone, ’ or the now-deceased ‘Artifact.’

But again, since it takes so long to obtain a substantial amount of cards to build a solid deck with, it can take a while to get into online matches. Sure, you get some starter decks, but you don’t actually get the cards from them, just a limited amount of times you can rent them.

Despite that hiccup, battles are enjoyable, along with the rest of the game. ‘Pokémon TCG Pocket’ is a software that, even with flaws, is a fun way for someone to collect and play the card game without necessarily having to spend money. With its simpler battle system that creates quicker matches, the game is a great way for people, whether they’re veterans or newbies to the franchise, to connect with and have fun with friends and family. ‘Pokémon TCG Pocket’ is out now for Android and iOS devices, and is free to play – unlike these here casino games. In the time you’ve been reading, I’ve been kicked out. Turns out that puppeteering and hacking a digital poker game into always folding each turn warrants defenestration. It’s not my fault I couldn’t see the big red sign at the building’s entrance reading ‘DO NOT CHEAT:’ I’m colorblind!

But you know, maybe all of this talk about gambling and “rigging the system” is futile. As I sit here, wet and glass-covered while a troupe of rats gnaw on my left big toe, I think that maybe getting into hysterics about the humanity of casinos is pointless. Maybe instead of arguing for or against this fallacy of the human experience, we can enjoy life for what it is, ignore it, and live on stronger without the temptations of greed. And maybe we can enjoy battling with and collecting cards in ‘Pocket’ without delving into frantic eulogies about NFT’s and the safety of the children. I give ‘Pokemon TCG Pocket’ a 7/10, and look forward to continuing enjoying it – now without the burden of guilt, and instead the hedonism of connection with others.

I’ve been Mr. Whatshisname, thank you for reading today’s JOYSTiCK review, and since my bank account’s digits have receded into the negatives, for dinner tonight I’ve got a pair of rats who’ve got a skillet and oven with their names on it. Take care, and I’ll see you next time.