- The hotly-anticipated Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is a big hit
- In less than a week it has accrued more than 10 million downloads across all platforms
- Pokémon TCG Pocket brings a digital version of the super-popular mobile card game to smartphone
It shouldn’t exactly be shocking, but Pokémon is massively popular. And the latest piece of spin-off media to get a prestige rub from that popularity is the highly-anticipated Pokémon TCG Pocket. Bringing the experience of the trading card game to your smartphone, it’s already been downloaded over 10 million times on all platforms since its release in late October.
Again, this isn’t exactly surprising. The original Pokémon TCG – coupled with the cartoon and video game series – is what boosted the franchise into the stratosphere. Fans have been eagerly awaiting a way to play and collect digitally that has all the same mechanics as the mainline card game.
It’s little wonder that Pokémon TCG Pocket has been well-received. In our own review of Pokémon TCG Pocket despite this being very early doors, we gave it a glowing review, praising the overall experience with the only critique being the occasional long-winded animation.
Pokémania returns
So, is this a new dawn for Pokémon on mobile? I’d say so, considering that digital versions of card games have had a hard time gaining a foothold in favour of adaptations or entirely original mobile TCGs, it’s refreshing to see something as popular as Pokémon really get its hooks into players this early on. However, at the same time, this could also be a honeymoon period big franchises often enjoy at launch, and like with Niantic’s Pokémon Go, we’ll need to see how long-term support pans out to find out how it all comes together.
Meanwhile, if you’re not concerned about a chilly reception, and want to find what great games are also making waves, be sure to check in on our reviews. Speaking of colder temperatures, the latest release we’ve taken a gander at has been our review of Frostpunk: Beyond the Ice.