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Pokémon is the franchise equivalent of the gift that keeps on giving. There’s consistently new Pokémon to catch, new trading cards to collect and new games, toys and merchandise to keep you busy. One of the latest additions to the Pokémon marketplace is the new-look Pokémon Trading Card Battle Academy, fresh off the press for 2024. With a recommended age rating of 6+ this handy game is a perfect starting point for PTCG (Pokémon Trading Card Game) novices, or for children who love collecting the cards but don’t have any real idea on how to play. This bargain box set will teach you everything you need to know to get started on your journey to becoming a PTCG master!
What’s Included
A non-exhaustive list of what comes in this board game includes:
- Pokémon board game board
- Three pre-made Pokémon decks (Pikachu/Armarouge/Darkrai)
- A snazzy Pokémon coin (for heads/tails decisions)
- Two deck-specific tutorial booklets (Pikachu/Armarouge)
The Beginners Bible
This board game really will take you from zero knowledge to competent player within the space of around 10 to 20 minutes. The ‘Tutorial’ booklets are superbly presented and take you through how to play in a step-by-step fashion. Importantly, the cards in the two initial decks that you’ll play have numbered cards and play in a certain order – meaning the ‘tutorial’ plays like you’d expect in a video game tutorial, with a predetermined outcome of the first four turns. Playing through the booklet will give you a solid understanding of the basics; how and when to draw cards, how prize cards are won, how to move Pokémon from your hand to the bench and switch your active Pokémon, how to evolve Pokémon and how and when to use Supporter and Item cards.
Once you have grasped the basics, the game mechanic is then designed to let you play out the rest of the game using what you have learned and your own initiative, so the outcomes will be different each time depending on what you (and your opponent) choose to do. There’s also the follow-up ‘Advanced’ Darkrai Pokémon deck with more challenging cards and features to use once you feel you’ve got the hang of the basics.
Once it’s time to reset, you can either keep the cards shuffled (meaning you can play without the booklet step-by-step guide) or re-order the cards back into the original play order so it’s ready to walk-through the tutorial again next time you play (or if you want to teach a friend and widen your circle of PTCG opponents!) This gives the game a great depth and purpose as a set of reliable training wheels for new players.
Keeping It Simple…Until You’re Ready
Accompanying the Darkrai deck is another booklet which contains all the rules needed to engage in some of the more advanced elements of play such as Pokémon strengths and weaknesses (think Fire type vs Water type or Psychic type vs Fighting type.) This will tell you everything you need to know about how these mechanics work, as once you start playing with other decks, understanding these is a must. It would have been useful if the set gave some helpful hints and tips on building your own deck from scratch, to help players that could be playing this game to make use of PTCG cards they have got from the individual packs. Luckily there’s plenty of resources on the internet to make up for this oversight!
Great Value
Pokémon Trading Card Battle Academy, currently retails here on Zatu for under £30 and that represents great value for money considering everything you get in the box. The box includes three separate, well-balanced and ready-to-play decks, which is pretty cost-effective. These decks can also function outside of this boxed game; you can play them against other players bringing their own decks, and use them as a foundation on which to build and expand by introducing other cards. It also includes a sturdy, high- quality board to play on plus card tokens for tracking damage, which are much better than the fold-out paper versions that come in the boxed deck sets. This is especially helpful if you’re playing against kids or clumsy grown-ups that constantly knock and jog the paper version, sending your Pokémon cards to the floor or messing up the deck, prize cards and bench (I speak from experience!)
Best Buy for Newbies
Pokémon Trading Card Battle Academy is the perfect starting point for novices. In fact, as I was playing it with my own children, it occurred to me how helpful it would have been when I was younger, in the days before internet was readily available. Me and my friends mostly followed some brief ‘rules’ that someone had learned from an older sibling, then made up the rest as we went along. It wasn’t ideal. But if someone had had a copy of this game, we could all have learned together how to play ‘properly.’ So, if you are thinking about learning how to use you Pokémon cards properly, or know someone that would like to learn from the very beginning – this game is a must have!