At 36 years old, I am once again obsessed with Pokémon cards – this time on my phone

The new smartphone version of the trading card game has captured me as effectively as a Master Ball – but I’m enjoying this daily nostalgia shot

Any millennial – and any parent – will be familiar with Pokémon cards, newsagent pester-power mainstays since the turn of the century. Contained within shiny metallic plastic packaging are critter-adorned trading cards of varying rarity, from a humble Squirtle to a special-edition illustrated Snorlax. There have been a few attempts to bring these lucrative illustrated cards (and the competitive battling game that you can play with them) to smartphones, but until now, they’ve all been poorly received. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, released last week, is by some distance the best yet. It has truly gotten its hooks into me.

Here, for the first time since Pokémon Trading Card Game on the Game Boy Color in 1998, we have a decent virtual version of the incredibly popular card game. This is good news, because it’s very entertaining, but also bad news, because it is worrisomely compelling. I’ve played for at least couple of hours every day this week, though I’m starting to run out of things to do now. I probably won’t let my children play it, because if I am rendered this powerless by the prospect of shiny Charizards, they surely have no hope.

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