Pokémon Trading Card Game Online is Cool! (Blog Post #1 Again)

Find a site that you think is cool or cutting edge and well designed. Explain what this site is about and why you find it compelling. What makes the site cool or cutting edge and how does it differ from most sites that are out there? Are there special, unique, or interesting features to the site? Can you determine how the site was made and/or the tools and techniques that were used?

My custom avatar for the TCG Online site

Recently, I discovered that the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which I used to play in its physical form several years ago, was being made into an online version, which you can find here: http://www.pokemontcg.com/. It is known as the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online, though the actual game on the site is referred to as Pokémon Trainer Challenge.


This site is basically what it sounds like - an online version of the original Trading Card Game. The original game involves collecting cards, making decks from them, and using the decks to play against others according to rules defined by Pokémon USA (or Wizards of the Coast, who released the cards until 2003). It essentially simulates a Pokémon battle in the Pokémon video games, with the same concept of a team of six Pokémon, damage, special conditions (like poison, confusion, etc), and prizes for defeating an opponent (in the form of prize cards; in the video game you earn either EXP - if you defeat a wild Pokémon - or EXP and money if you defeat another Pokémon trainer), coupled with aspects specific to the card game, like coin tossing, energy cards, and special non-Pokémon cards (initially called Trainer Cards, later expanded into the categories of Supporter Cards, Item Cards, Stadium Cards, and Pokémon Tools) that can affect gameplay in various ways (favorites early on were card-drawing cards like Bill and Professor Oak; other cards like Full Heal and the rare card Computer Search were also popular).

The online version, now available in open beta, seeks to replicate this experience online, with cards that look just like the physical ones. Based on the site's "learn the game" tutorials, the process of the game will go just the same as the physical Trading Game does. (I haven't tried the actual game; I've had some trouble getting in even though I should have access to the beta).

The site is cool because it is the only online version of a trading card game that I have ever heard of. If it is the first ever, then it is certainly cutting edge. It may help to generate more interest in the Trading Card Game, which I'm excited about because I haven't been able to play the game in a while (aside from a modified 30-card game at Comic-Con) and would like to get back into it again.

One of the interesting features of the site is the "Learn" tutorials. They feature an exclusive professor character who teaches you the basic, intermediate, and advanced aspects of the game through an interactive video environment. And if you finish the tutorials successfully, you gain special tokens as rewards (which don't have any value yet - a lot of aspects of the game aren't yet available because this is a beta - but which the site's FAQ indicates will mean something later).

Another interesting feature is the Deck Builder, which you gain once you purchase booster packs or theme decks using the credits you can gain from Pokémon Black and White physical booster packs and specially marked theme decks. After you open your purchased packs (as well as the free theme deck you get if you haven't bought a physical one and registered it - as I found out personally), you simply drag one card into place and the system creates a deck for you out of the cards you have. It's very useful because I've never been good at deck-building, which is why, I think, I've always lost playing the TCG in the past.

The site was obviously made mostly with Flash. The forum seems to be made with the typical PHPBB code used with forums. The site/game's still in beta though so it's hard to say exactly how things are built. A view of the home page source code shows some JavaScript and a LOT of DIV layers. The site also promises to be kid-friendly, a place "where kids can play the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online and we work tirelessly to help keep it as safe as possible," which may mean there is some PHP security code under the surface.

If I had been able to get into the game proper, I'd be able to say more, but unfortunately I can't. In lieu of that, please enjoy these screenshots that I took from the site:

Pokémon Trading Card Game Online community/forum

User dashboard

Home page

The initial game-playing interface

News page

User profile (with leaderboard)

Shop where you can buy booster packs for the game

Support Center

Tutorials section

On the forum, there are desktop wallpapers you can download with trainers on them, representing the different energy types in the TCG. This here is the water-type one (my favorite type)  featuring a trainer named Calvin.

The site's "ProfessorMaven" explains to users what exactly an "open beta" is.

To end this post, check out this video which shows what battling in this game is like:



See you next time!