Opening up a booster pack in the newly released mobile hit game Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket involves a few steps, including having to choose which pack to open. Does the pack you pick matter and influence what cards you get? Good question! And one that the devs won’t answer.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has quickly become one of the biggest games of 2024 since it launched last month. People have already spent millions of dollars buying and collecting digital Pokémon cards. Part of the process of actually getting the cards involves picking which booster pack you want from a carousel of them that you can spin around and play with before finalizing your choice. According to some people, which pack you pick matters. Others say it doesn’t. And the devs behind TCG Pocket won’t provide any clarity.
Polygon reached out to the Pokémon Company to ask if the pack you pick from the carousel matters at all.
“While Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket draws inspiration from the experience of opening physical Pokémon TCG booster packs, we are unable to share specifics at this time,” The Pokémon Company vaguely explained to Polygon. So yeah, they are dodging the question.
Despite the non-answer from the devs and Pokémon Company, you can find people who have dug into the code and looked at how Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket actually works and according to their findings, the pack you pick doesn’t matter. So why won’t The Pokémon Company say that?
Rumors have always been a part of Pokémon games
Maybe it’s because, ever since the original Pokémon games and cards first launched in the ‘90s, the company behind the franchise has embraced ambiguity and kids sharing rumors on the playground. Kids (and adults) sharing theories and rumors about the newest Pokémon game is a long-running tradition that keeps people talking about the series and makes the people behind it a lot of money.
If you look on TikTok, the modern digital playground, you’ll find people sharing videos that claim packs with good cards are bent slightly or turn slower. Others will claim a good spin of the wheel increases your odds of a rare card. Heck, I swear my best pulls happen when I pick anything but the first pack. I have no data to back this up, but it feels like I have some arcane knowledge.
And when people feel like they have secret or powerful knowledge, they are more likely to share it with friends. Then rumors spread and people go, “Huh, is that true?” That leads to more people downloading the game and spending some money on it. And that’s why The Pokémon Company is worth billions and also won’t confirm or deny that spinning the packs matter. It probably doesn’t, but they won’t say that anytime soon.