Fans have been voicing their frustration over the exclusivity of Pack Points in Pokemon TCG Pocket. Unlike most gacha games, DeNA’s trading card game lacks a soft or hard pity system. In other words, there’s no guaranteed drops from booster packs, no matter how many the player opens. Instead, Pokemon TCG Pocket tries to mitigate bad luck by awarding Pack Points.
Pack Points work in a straightforward way: each time a player opens a booster pack, they earn a set number of points. These points can later be used to craft Pokemon TCG Pocket cards. Players can choose which card to unlock, though the cost varies depending on the card’s rarity. While this system appears to offer more flexibility than traditional pity systems, it comes with a major flaw that has left many players frustrated.
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Pokemon TCG Pocket Fans Call for Change to Drop Rates
Fans want Pokemon TCG Pocket to adjust drop rates in a way that could potentially help make up for the absence of a soft pity system.
Currently, each set in Pokemon TCG Pocket has its own separate pool of Pack Points, meaning the loyalty points earned from one expansion can’t be used to craft cards from another. To make matters worse, rare cards come with high Pack Point costs, making it nearly impossible for free-to-play players to unlock them. Many fans have complained about points piling up in older sets, with no practical use since they cannot be redeemed for new, meta-relevant Pokemon or Trainers.
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Pack Points Have a Big Problem
Pity systems are typically designed to make rare items more accessible to players who consistently engage with the game. For example, Marvel SNAP, another popular card game, recently introduced a new pack-opening mechanic that guarantees players only pull cards they don’t already own. By removing duplicates, this system gives players a much better chance of completing their collections. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Pokemon TCG Pocket. Even some players who’ve spent hundreds of dollars on booster packs have reported falling short on Pack Points needed to craft rare cards.
Fans have been urging the developer to make Pack Points shared across multiple expansions. While they agree it makes sense for the latest Pokemon TCG Pocket set to have its own pool, they believe older sets’ loyalty points should be unified. This way, points from previous booster packs wouldn’t go to waste and could actually help players complete collections.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the developer will change how Pokemon TCG Pocket’s currencies work. The game’s monetization relies heavily on collecting rare variants, like shiny, full-art, and crown. Making Pack Points universal could undermine this model by making rare cards more accessible, which doesn’t appear to align with the developer’s interests.