Do you want a look into how the Pokemon TCG is made?
Then you are in luck! Game Informer has recently gone behind the scenes at Creatures Inc to take a look at the Pokemon TCG. They were given a tour of the offices and talked to Mitsuhiro Arita.
Creatures Inc may have started out with Ape making the Earthbound games. Now they spend most of their time working for Pokemon by managing and creating the Pokemon TCG. They spend months on end designing cards from their attacks, abilities and artwork. Meanwhile, the TCG is used as an arm of the Pokemon Company International as a promotional tool to tie into the games and anime. So it is an impressive feat for Game Informer to go into Creatures and get a peek of the process on how the Pokemon TCG is made.
Below are some key parts about the trip into Creatures Inc.
- It takes about one year for a TCG set to be created. That means that Creatures works closely with Pokemon to have some sort of synergy with what is happening with Pokemon a year from now. This could be seen with they use their Summer TCG set to promote the recent Pokemon movie. Example: They could have been working on Marshadow GX for Burning Shadows a year in advance before the movie based on what Pokemon would tell them.
- Creatures Inc does play favorites with Pokemon when it comes to making cards. The Game Director, Nagashima, favorite Pokemon is Darkrai. That would explains why we see so many Darkrai cards.
- Creatures Inc tries to keep the game simple so it will encourage newer players to play on an even playing field with veteran players. This could be seen during the Black & White era where they made the cards to keep newer players in the game against older players. This may have meant giving Basic Pokemon bigger HP and powerful effects for Trainer cards. It may have made the game slightly unbalanced but it kept it exciting for the new players.
- Creatures Inc has a group of 19 testers. These testers range from rookie players to hardcore players. They test out different strategies and give suggestions on how to change the card. This could range from if the attack or ability matches the personality of the card. In the end, the card undergoes varies changes until the perfect balance is found.
- The focus that Creatures Inc has is always going forward instead of fixing problems. They may try to fix it but they rather keep the game going forward so new strategies are made and keeping the game fun.
If you want to read the full article behind Game Informer’s trip into Creatures Inc then click here. There is so much information to take when it comes to the creation of the Pokemon TCG. Enjoy!