Pokemon Trading Card Game App Comes to Android Tablets

Fans of the Pokemon Trading Card Game can now hone their skills using their Android tablets. The Pokemon Company announced that their popular Pokemon Trading Card Game Online app, which was previously available on iPads only, is now in open beta testing for Android devices. The app ties into an online browser game accessible via the Pokemon website that allows trainers to virtually collect Pokemon cards and battle fellow trainers. While the app now works for both Android and iPads, the app is still not compatible with smaller devices, like smart phones.

The Pokemon trading card game was started in 1996 shortly after the Pokemon franchise began in Japan and made its way over to the United States in 1998. While Wizards of the Coast (the publisher of both Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering) originally produced the cards, the Pokemon Company took over production and distribution in 2003. To date, there have been over 60 sets of Pokemon Cards released, each of which contain different versions of the over 700 Pokemon currently found in the video game. While the game has evolved over the last 20 years, the basic gameplay structure of distributing energy, building a team of Pokemon and battling for prizes should be familiar to players who stopped playing after getting their holographic Charizard card decades ago.

The online version of the Pokemon Trading Card game was originally released in 2011, and gives fans another avenue to collect cards and battle other trainers. Players can buy card packs with points accumulated via battling, or use QR codes found in card packs purchased in stores. The mobile app is kept up to date with the newest releases, including the recently released EX and BREAK cards, which allow players to use superstrong versions of certain Pokemon.

(via PocketGamer)