All games, even mobile games, have to start somewhere. The Pokémon TCG Pocket app launched a few days ago with high acclaim. It currently boasts a solid #1 ranking on the Apple charts under “Casual” apps. With over 88,000 ratings there, it has a respectable score of 4.8 out of 5 stars. And yet, it notably launched without the capability to allow players to trade their cards amongst each other. This feature is coming soon, and it got us thinking: What other features should The Pokémon Company add to this app?
In this article, we will explore ten features that we believe would optimize the Pokémon TCG Pocket app. We also have one Honorable Mention. Let’s begin!
#10. Pack Collection Status
Within the app, it’s difficult to gauge exactly how far you’ve come in completing a certain sub-pack. Last time I checked my Genetic Apex collection status, for instance, I had 79 cards from the Pikachu pack, 85 from the Charizard pack, and 88 from the Mewtwo pack. But even getting to that point in the user interface was a hassle and a chore.
Therefore, it would be positively lovely to see collection completion percentages in the pack selection screen. This representation could appear under the sub-packs themselves so that players could easily gauge how many more packs of that subtype they’d want to open.
#9. Database Filter Improvements
There are already a ton of different cards in the Pokémon TCG Pocket app. In Genetic Apex alone there are 226 cards. Pair this with approximately 24 promotional cards obtainable through non-pack means (although some are still unreleased), and you’ve got a whopping 250 cards to sift through. When you’re building decks, this can be fairly taxing, especially if certain cards are low on the main list in the database (looking at you, Sabrina!).
For this reason, a filter on the database is strongly encouraged for a future update. Being able to search for a certain subset of cards by the body text would help immensely to that end. I’m not a huge fan of flipping too many coins in this game of variance, for instance. So, being able to exclude the words “coin” or “coins” when building a deck would improve my quality of life a ton here. That’s just one way that database filter improvements would behoove players.
#8. Wonder Pick Filters
This improvement differs from the above because it pertains to Wonder Picks. Far too often I’ve had to scroll through potential Wonder Picks that were either too expensive to justify, had cards I owned a critical mass of copies for, or simply didn’t have the card or cards I wanted. As such, being able to specify that I want to filter by card, sub-pack, maximum cost, or the presence of new cards would be great. For example, a pack of Genetic Apex (Pikachu) with a Pikachu EX would help me immensely for the current Solo event.
#7. Pack Point Redemption Filters
As with the previous two entries, this one concerns filters as well. This one is a bit more similar to the deckbuilding filter option. However, it’s about redeeming Pack Points. This is another exercise in slight tedium in that you have to scroll and scroll to get to something you want to redeem for Pack Points (accrued for opening a ton of packs in the first place). Some of these cards require 1,250 Pack Points, and each pack yields only five points. You can do the math – that’s already a potential time waster in itself!
There is no reason, in this day and age, that we can’t have a filter for cards in this instance. With the next pack to come out, this need will be even greater as we sift through even more cards to get that one we really want.
#6. In-Game Currency Tab
In the Pokémon TCG Pocket app, there is currently no tab to view all of your in-game currency. As such, much of it could fall by the wayside in some cases. For example, I have not once used the currency that refreshes unused Wonder Pick options. However, with a tab that elaborates on all of a player’s in-game currencies (plus, perhaps, a button to go to where one would spend them), this could easily be corrected.
#5. More Friend Interactions
It’s already great that there is a means to add friends on this app. However, there isn’t currently a lot we can do with this feature yet besides battle via code, Wonder Pick their packs, and cheer them on for cosmetic boasting. As a sidebar: seriously, what’s the point of a “Cover”?
But I digress. What this app needs is the means to request battles against friends through the app itself, get insights into their latest pulls, and, eventually, allow for trade requests. Furthermore, the ability to add friends via QR Code would be great as well.
#4. Battle Replays
Have you ever had a game in any system where the match was so good that you wanted to save it for posterity? Well, unfortunately in Pokémon TCG Pocket you cannot do that. These battles are lightning-fast, sure, but they also can be memorable blowouts worthy of a personal Hall of Fame entry. As such, it would be keen for The Pokémon Company to allow players the option to save their latest three to five battles. They could display them for friends or random players to watch, either as a funny moment or a show of dominance. That would be pretty cool, I’d say.
#3. Tracking Quantity of Packs Opened
This feature is extremely minor, but for die-hard collectors it could also be quite impactful. I would like to see how many packs of Genetic Apex I’ve opened, but specifically how many of each sub-pack. There’s an achievement board in a player’s profile tab that states the number of packs they’ve opened in general, but nothing more specific than that. As such, adding in this feature would make a lot of players very happy.
#2. More In-Game Currency Accrual
This ask may be a bit tough for The Pokémon Company to fulfill, but I’d like more means to accrue in-game currency. I’ve been relegated to waiting hours on end for one Wonder Pick token, a pack, or even a Solo Event token. I still don’t have that Lapras EX after completing all lower modes and doing the Expert Mode 18 times! Truly, I would love two copies of that promo card, but that currently takes so much time.
As such, I wouldn’t even mind sitting through a 100% optional ad break every so often to get some amount of currency. There are other options too, like the occasional email survey (as The Pokémon Company has our emails now). Most notably, I’d like to be able to “dust” cards, or discard them permanently, for Pack Points or similar. “Dusting” is an option in older Pokémon TCG apps, so why can’t it be one here? With zero exaggeration, I have seven promotional copies of Clefairy. Please let me make use of five of them for more useful endeavors!
Honorable Mention: Trades
As this feature seems to be coming in a future update, trading is our Honorable Mention. There is much speculation over how it will work. Is trading one-for-one? Will rarities factor into how trades occur? Can I finally trade five of my Clefairy for a Lapras EX? Furthermore, I wonder if yet another in-game currency will factor into the ability to trade. It feels like this game is extremely hungry for that, and so it doesn’t seem out of the question.
When trading finally does come to the Pokémon TCG Pocket app, many of these questions will be put to bed. Still, it doesn’t hurt to voice our hopes for what comes of it.
#1. Put Pokémon TCG Pocket Redeems In Physical Packs
Finally, putting redeems back into physical packs of the Pokémon TCG would be so amazing. These could be pretty minor (one point of an in-game currency) or massive (a promo or a pack) depending on the product. It doesn’t matter as long as they can come back. For many players, this was the best thing about opening physical cards, even if they didn’t play the game. They could use these QR Codes as trade fodder to barter with friends who could use them, and that was a good way to maintain trade rapport, in theory. When The Pokémon Company discontinued this practice with the Scarlet & Violet series of cards, this dismayed a lot of players and collectors. Let’s do a double-back on this change because it was pretty reductive.
The app has a ways to go before we can consider it an optimal one, let alone perfect. That said, the features above would innovate the Pokémon TCG Pocket app just enough to satisfy a great many players. Was there anything not on this list that should also be addressed? Hopefully, The Pokémon Company can address those as well.
