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Pokémon TCG Pocket review - uh oh, it's really good

While the invisible hand of compulsion and in-game spending lingers, Pokémon TCG Pocket benefits from smartly interwoven systems and a darn good card game.

Over the past week or two since The Pokémon Company unleashed this fearsome dopamine machine onto the world, I've been hard pressed to put it down, filling erstwhile empty moments during tooth brushing, kettle boiling and, erm, definitely not working with just one more quick game. The downside is, a gentle loop around the systems quickly becomes a well-trodden path, and then inevitably a more compulsively marched one, ultimately leaving that familiar footprint trail on the mind - the one of automated, invisibly compelled muscle memory. It means you can squeeze that game in while on a tea break, at the bus stop, or during a definitely very important and relevant compulsory remote meeting about nothing to do with your department, without worrying about damaging your ranking or score if you have to duck out early or just make a silly mistake.

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