'Pokemon Duel' Tips and Tricks for Game's Beginners

By Karissa Dumaraog, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, January 29, 2017

"Pokémon Duel," which has rolled out in North America this week, offers a free-to-play mobile game for both Android and iOS device users. Mining from the battle mechanics of the classic main gameplay in the franchise, a few other features are added to elevate the playing experience.

"Pokémon Duel," which is essentially a digital game board that takes on the Trading Figure Game from the franchise in the 2000s, allows gamers to take on each other to determine who is the best Pokémon trainer. However, instead of just a one-dimensional representation of the pocket monsters, they come as figures. The main goal of each match is to strategically move one's six personal Pokémon until one of them reaches the opponent's side of the board. The other player will do the same thing, which will enable the players to come up with a clever mix of defense and offense to beat each other. This may sound similar to the mechanics of chess, but in "Pokémon Duel," each creature has Move Points (MP) that determine how many spaces it can travel in one tap.

When two rival Pokémon become face to face, they will automatically have to battle. Their arsenal in fighting will be determined by a random spin, and the player with the lower number loses. The losing creature is sent to the Pokémon Center, which can only hold up to two critters at a time and follows a first-enter, first-exit pattern. But even if the Pokémon already gets released, it has to sit out one turn before it can get back into the thick of things.

So-called Plates are also available for use as they offer limited buffs that must be recharged after every use. These Plates can help a player by enabling an easier switch position for figures as well as increasing the Pokémon's attack power.

It is important to note that picking the six figures with two representatives present on the deck is key to the game. Pikachu for starters is a great offensive creature while retro starters will be good defensive workers.