When Pokémon TCG Pocket was first teased a few months back, it looked like yet another mobile app meant to capitalize on the physical card game’s recent wave of unexpected popularity. With Pokémon TCG Live already on the market, it was hard to suss out how The Pokémon Company envisioned Pocket fitting into the larger franchise. And while titles like Marvel Snap and Hearthstone have proven to be big hits, it wasn’t clear that Pocket would be able to appeal to newcomers and hardcore Pokémon fans alike.
We’re still a few weeks out from Pokémon TCG Pocket’s general release. But during the hands-on time I recently spent testing the game out, it felt like a promising — if slightly daunting — attempt at reinventing the classic card collecting…