Pokémon TCG Pocket is now available in Australia

Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pictured: A player trading an Eevee card in Pokémon TCG Pocket
// The Pokémon trading card game gets a streamlined digital version.
Brodie Fogg
Oct 30, 2024
Icon Time To Read1 min read

Announced earlier this year, Pokémon TCG Pocket is now available on iOS and Android in Australia. A combined effort from The Pokémon Company and DeNA, Pokémon TCG Pocket is a new digital adaptation of the immensely popular trading card game. Pokémon TCG Pocket is free-to-download and free-to-play. There are microtransactions involved if you want to open more booster packs faster, but even if you don't want to spend anything, you'll still be able to open two booster packs per day for free. 

Seemingly developed in response to the overnight success of Marvel Snap, Pokémon TCG Pocket takes the decades-old trading card game you know and love and streamlines it for short, sharp mobile-friendly matches. In short, your aim is still to evolve your Pokémon as quickly as possible to increase your attack and HP (hit points) to overpower your enemy. To speed things up, energy cards are given each turn, rather than randomly drawn from your deck.

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Explaining Pokémon TCG Pocket's microtransactions

Marvel Snap is one of our favourite mobile games. Its core card game is fun and moreish but we also appreciate its unintrusive microtransactions. Free players can have as much fun as those who pay and paying real money doesn't give you a competitive edge. Whether Pokémon TCG Pocket is as magnanimous towards its players is yet to be seen but so far it seems to hitting the right notes. 

There's an optional subscription Premium Pass that gets you an extra booster pack per day, plus some exclusive cosmetics and exclusive "missions." Then there's Poké Gold, a basic in-game currency that lets you purchase cards and cosmetic items from a store, and purchase 'Hourglass' items that let you reduce timers for unlocking booster packs and Wonder Trades (another system that lets you take a chance at collecting a card from another player.)

Brodie Fogg
Written by
Brodie Fogg is the Australian editorial lead at Reviews.org. He has covered consumer tech, telecommunications, video games, streaming and entertainment for over five years at websites like WhistleOut and Finder and can be found sharing streaming recommendations at 7NEWS every month.

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