Summary
- Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Achievement rewards undervalue player efforts with measly Shinedust prizes.
- Fans criticize DeNA for poor reward distribution, labeling the game as pay-to-win.
- Despite frustrations, Pocket’s developers are working on updates to potentially improve reward mechanics.
Pokemon TCG Pocket players have recently voiced their frustration with the game’s Achievement rewards. Now that the game has been out for a while, many are disappointed by Pokemon TCG Pocket’s oddly imbalanced reward system, which seems to undervalue their efforts to unlock rarer Achievements.
Since its October 2024 launch, Pocket has garnered mostly positive reviews from gamers and critics. However, its gacha mechanics and microtransaction-heavy card acquisition have sparked controversies, with many suggesting that Pokemon Pocket is a pay-to-win title. One argument supporting this claim is the game’s stingy approach to reward distribution, which has triggered some heated discussions online.
Related
Pokemon TCG Pocket Reveals New Trading Details
Pokemon TCG Pocket reveals new criteria for trades, the highly anticipated system that will allow players to obtain new cards.
After Reddit user Serteyf shared screenshots of hard-to-unlock Achievements on Pocket’s subreddit, other players joined in to criticize the “underwhelming” rewards. According to the screenshots, the highest reward for Achievements is just 100 Shinedust. For context, unlocking the rarest Flair in Pokemon Pocket requires around 90,000 Shinedust. This stark imbalance has led players to call out DeNA, the game’s developer, for its poor management of rewards. Some players speculate that the current rewards are merely placeholders due to time constraints during development. Others, however, have labeled the developers as “lazy” for not investing the effort to create a more balanced system.
Why Pocket Players Are Disappointed with Achievement Rewards
Pocket features five tiers of Achievements, ranging from Bronze to Platinum. Unlocking all five tiers rewards players with just 250 Shinedust in total. This feels unrewarding, as Pokemon Pocket’s Shinedust isn’t even a rare resource. For comparison, opening a single Booster Pack with a few duplicate cards can yield twice that amount. This disparity has left fans frustrated and vocal about the game’s Achievement rewards.
In the same Reddit thread discussing Achievement rewards, some fans defended the developers, arguing that Achievements in Pokemon Pocket are primarily designed for display on player profiles rather than for earning rewards. However, dissatisfied players counter that if this is the case, DeNA should consider removing rewards from Achievements altogether, as the current system undermines the effort required to unlock them. That said, Pokemon TCG Pocket is still in its early stages and has room to grow into a more robust TCG title. The developers are actively working on major updates that could potentially improve the reward mechanics. In January alone, two major updates are scheduled to launch: the long-awaited Trading feature and a new card expansion for Pokemon Pocket. Hopefully, future updates and patches will address players’ concerns about the Achievement rewards system.
