Serious Question: Why do adults play Pokemon TCG?

[Cardboard Carnage]

This is a genuinely serious question looking for considered responses and pros vs cons lists.

My apologies in advance, but I am more interested in hearing from gamers who push cardboard in real-life games, including regular kitchen-table gamers. I think actual face-to-face, real-life, human-interaction across a table massively increases pressure, stress and tension, dramatically influencing in-game decisions. Online stuff often just feels too disconnected and theoretical, by comparison.

For the record, I play/have played (in no particular order) Magic: The Gathering, Vs System, Summoner Wars, Warhammer: Conquest LCG, Mage Wars: Academy, Epic Card Game, Rune Age, and some others that I can't remember right now. I still play the odd game of Top Trumps, as well, of which I own seven official sets and two home-made ones. This is on top of numerous board games and roleplaying games. The reason why I mention all this is because I am making a genuine enquiry and am not idly throwing stones.

I am very interested in finding out why adults are playing the Pokemon TCG. Watching YouTube, there are plenty of adult gamers playing very serious games of what has always been advertised as a children's card collecting hobby. Although the adults do not seem to be the majority, they are also not exceptions to the rule, either. There is also a reasonable level of depth in strategy and tactics, although I am perfectly willing to debate whether this is more or less than a Magic: The Gathering benchmark.

I have seen the cards and a lot of them have cutesy names with a lot of cutesy art, originally intended as merchandising for a TV show. BUT... It is very clear that plenty of people have made a significant investment of time and money in playing Pokemon, in preference to an officially-adult game like MTG. Just as much as why people started, I would also like to know why they have continued.

In short, what makes/keeps this fun?

My apologies in advance if these points have already been asked and answered elsewhere.

Ta,


Cardboard Carnage.

 

[RichD]

Well I don’t know if I can articulate something as subjective as why something is fun, but I can certainly why I started playing and why I continue to play.
I got into playing the Pokemon TCG about four years ago as a fun activity for me and my then 6 year old son at our local Pokemon League. My family is a fan of the Pokemon series of games and the cartoons and I was a casual Magic the Gathering player in college. I never quite lost the itch of wanting to play a TCG and making it a family activity gave me the excuse to start spending on cards again. (Oh, for the record, I did not get into this because of my kids. My kids got into this because of me. I shared my love of Pokemon with my boys and I was the one who brought up that there was a TCG out there if they were interested.)

I found the Pokemon TCG to be a fun game with enough challenge in the deck building and execution to keep my interest. I like the simpler nature of the game compared to Magic. Unravelling a stack of effects and counter effects in Magic verged on hurting my head sometimes. It is a different play style to be sure to not be able to play cards on your opponents turn but one I enjoy.

It also happens to be a reasonably priced TCG if you are trying to get into competitive play. If you are starting from scratch you can put together a competitive deck for a few hundred dollars and the most highly sought after playable cards don’t go much higher than 50 dollars.

A large part of why I stay is the community of Pokemon players in my area. They are warm, supportive, and quite competitive so there is always someone willing to help push you to the next level of play. I am now a Leader of one of the local leagues, a judge and a tournament organizer because I wanted to be a more a part of this community I and my sons have benefited from.

So the short answer, I enjoy the games and world the TCG is based on, I enjoy the game play of the TCG and I enjoy the wider community of people that play the game. The fact that it is marketed “for kids” doesn’t bother me at all.

 

[Rogue Archetype]

Those of us who are grown (30+) started playing WITH our children as a way to connect with them. As far as a continuance of play beyond that; it's a game. Doesn't matter what's on the cards, if there's an opportunity to compete, gamers gonna game.

I've also seen people "come down" from Magic and Yugioh to play Pokemon because it was the same rush at a fraction of the opportunity cost. :thumb:

Once you connect with something fun and harmless like Pokemon TCG, it's just another avenue for fun like playing Spades, Monopoly, or Mortal Kombat. Fun is fun man. That's why we play.

 

[ICEdaddy]

As a dad, my kids play and brought me into the game, but I love the game now. It's very complex and a very well designed game with endless combinations of making decks and play styles. The cards are relatively affordable to make a competitive deck, the artwork is great and fun. The community is generally fun and welcoming. I play against teenagers, college students, adults who are parents and not parents, and they are generally good people.

I love complicated games. I never played Magic or other TCGs so I have no comparison. I encouraged this rather than other TCGs as Pokemon cards just look friendlier (I mean some Magic and Yugioh cards depict really bad people/creatures; who wants to hang around those guys?) and I wonder if the artwork is what builds in a generally positive community. I came into this as a moderately serious poker player (another complex game when you consider the psychology aspect of it), and at times, I like Pokemon better.

 

[Tagrineth]

Honestly? Because it's fun. Why should I have to elaborate? Why should ANYONE have to elaborate?



sidenote: Wizards of the Coast expressed the whole "MTG is adult game, Pokemans is 4 KIDZ" concept by eliminating the 15+ age division from events, their line being that the 15+s should be graduating to MTG. It actually had a hugely negative impact on tournament attendance IIRC.

 

[Higliphics]

My reasoning is probably different than those of others, but I can explain as to why I enjoy it.

When I was younger, I collected the cards. I loved playing the video games and watching the television show, so I enjoyed the pictures on the cards as well. Soon I got into playing the TCG Online CD-ROM and the GameBoy Color game. The interest for playing TCG didn't stick long, and I just continued to collect the cards for fun.

Fast-forward to about a year ago, I started avidly collecting the cards again and going back through all of my old cards. I started talking with more people at card shops and found a group of players that meet twice a week to play the card game. I went in, had help building a deck, and started playing with all of these people. Not only does it bring back all the old memories from when I was a kid, it also is fun for me since I have had a love of Pokemon my entire life. Getting to play against other people, make friends, and be competitive has been a really awesome experience for me. I love building different decks and playing them against other people. The entire experience is just fun!

 

[a_shy_girl_1999]

I am coming up to my mid 30's and I am actually coming back into the game. I started playing with Pokemon had first come out with the Base set. Simply put, it was fun, what more of a reason to play? I didn't start getting extremely active until around 2003/2004 when my family moved to Las Vegas. Prior to Vegas, we had lived in a very small country town with less than 1,000 people, so needless to say there wasn't anything going on in driving distances.

Once we came here I had promised my cousin (who was a jr. at the time) that I would take him to some events, and I did, and I got hooked myself. I met some of my best friends through the game and even started judging and helping out with events. I had a lot of fun needless to say. I took a break for 4-5yrs because RL hit me, and now I am at a point where I can get back into some hobbies I used to love, I choose Pokemon over say, Magic simply because it brings back how much fun I had and how many people I met because of it. It will always hold a special place for me, no matter how old I am. You know they say age is just a number.

So long story short: I play because I enjoy it, and I'm sure that goes for many others out there too.