Gotta Catch 'em All

Another hobby I have taken up since moving to Colorado has been the Pok'emon Trading Card Game. I had been interested in it since its inception during the late '90's. However, between card cost and not consistently having someone else to play against, I had fallen out of interest with it. 

This all changed when I discovered they had an online version for the computer. Initially, I had tried Hearthstone because my brother recommended it. However, this game proved to be outside my level of understanding when it came to complexity. After discovering this by playing it for a couple of weeks, I remembered how much fun the Pok'emon Trading Card Game was, and thought I would check to see if there was an equally-featured online version for the computer.

As it turns out, this happened to be the case, and so I gave it a try. Not only did it play just like the original, it was great for collecting cards that I would need because I did not have to spend any physical currency on cards that would either lose their value or get lost in a nook or cranny of a house or apartment. 

Over time, I have had opportunities to check out the game's various features, and for the most part, the "story mode" (they call it Trainer Challenge) is straightforward. The main downside to this is that the user is only allowed to play with one of three preassigned theme decks, much like the original Pok'emon RPGs for the GameBoy. There are other Vs. modes that allow the user to play with other decks, including custom made ones. I recently made my own deck last week, and apparently there are certain card rules (besides the 60 card limit) that apply to a standard deck now. One of these is that Trainer cards like the Pok'edex are no longer allowed in a standard deck, and there are also certain types of colorless Pok'emon that have a caveat for this rule. The upside, however, is that the computer version has a card called the Double Colorless Energy which not only can be used like a basic energy card, but, as its name suggests, it counts as TWO energy cards. Given facts like these, the game as a whole is very well balanced and fun to play. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend rectifying that terrible wrong. I also have a screenshot for doubters.