Free trading card game
Pokémon TCG Live is a free trading card game from The Pokémon Company International, Inc. This game is a departure from other Pokémon games like Pokemon: Revolution or Pokemon World Online since it’s a card trading game, to be more precise the reincarnation of the original Pokémon TCG Online.
Similar to its previous iteration, you need to assemble a card collection, build a strong deck and participate in games against other human opponents. Each card is unique and covers Pokémons of every kind. Each has special powers and abilities, so you need to think strategically before and during battles.
Pokémon TCG Online was released in 2011 and is showing its age. However, it still has many fans worldwide. This might be one of the reasons why the developer opted for the “don’t fix it if it ain’t broken” approach. You’ll find most features remain the same, but there are some exciting additions.
An updated experience
One of them is a new system to get cards, where if you have the maximum number of copies of any given card, any extra ones are converted to the in-game currency. The starter decks also have more powerful cards than the original game.
A lot to do
Of course, Pokémon TCG Live is on par with the previous version when it comes to what you can do. Not only can you participate in tournaments and build your deck, but you can also trade cards with other players and use the in-game currency system to purchase new ones.
There are daily challenges, a 3D avatar creation toolkit with customisable hair, skin colour and other details, and more.
A solid replacement
Pokémon TCG Live is a worthy replacement for the more-than-a-decade-old original game. It offers many of the features from its predecessor, while improving gameplay, graphics and other issues, bringing the experience to this decade with a focus on mobile gaming. Still, the Windows version looks and feels very balanced.
If you felt comfortable with the original and didn’t want to update it, the bad news is you’ll be forced to. This is because servers will stop working when the Live version is released. Luckily, you can transfer most of your data to the new version. Still, it might be a problem for players whose hardware doesn’t fulfil the requirements.