Pokemon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game (Japanese: ポケモンカードゲーム, Hepburn: Pokemon Kādo Gēmu, "Pokémon Card Game"), abbreviated as PTCG or Pokémon TCG, is a tabletop and collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the Pokémon franchise. Originally published in Japan by Media Factory in 1996, publishing worldwide is currently handled by The Pokémon Company. In the United States, Pokémon TCG publishing was originally licensed to Wizards of the Coast, the producer of Magic: The Gathering. Wizards published eight expansion sets between 1998 and 2003, after which point licensing was transferred to The Pokémon Company.

Players assume the role of Pokémon Trainers engaging in battle, and play with 60-card decks. Standard gameplay cards include Pokémon cards, Energy cards, and Trainer cards. Pokémon are introduced in battle from a "bench" and perform attacks on their opponent to deplete their health points. Attacks are enabled by the attachment of a sufficient number of Energy cards to the active Pokémon. Pokémon may also adjust other gameplay factors and evolve into more powerful stages. Players may use Trainer cards to draw cards into their hand, harm their opponent, or perform other gameplay functions. Card effects often rely on elements of luck, such as dice rolls and coin tosses, to decide an outcome. Gameplay relies on the usage of counters to indicate damage dealt and status effects.

The Pokémon TCG has been the subject of both officially-sanctioned and informal tournaments. Wizards of the Coast staged multiple tournaments across American malls and stores. Official tournaments are currently overseen by Play! Pokémon, a division of The Pokémon Company, and are hosted on a local, national, and international basis. In addition, numerous video game adaptations of the Pokémon TCG have been published, including Pokémon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color), the Pokémon: Play It! series (PC), Pokémon TCG Online (PC). After the closure of TCG Online in 2023, it was replaced with Pokémon Trading Card Game Live (PC) and Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (mobile) in 2024.

As of March 2024, the game has produced over 64.8 billion cards worldwide.[2] Beside formal competitions and informal battling, the Pokémon TCG has also been the subject of collecting hobbies, with an extensive market for individual Pokémon cards, packs, and ephemera.