If you’ve grown tired of playing Pokémon GO, there’s a new mobile game available for free on both iOS and Android phones that may suit you a bit better.
“Pokémon Duel” from developer The Pokémon Company isn’t an AR game where you jog around the neighborhood looking for Snorlax like Pokémon GO. Instead, it’s a game where you can collect and battle Pokémon who vaguely resemble little Amiibo figures. Essentially, it’s a Pokémon board game.
There’s a certain quirkiness about Pokémon Duel that mobile gamers will either love... or hate. Along with the description of being a "board game," Pokémon Duel adds turn-based strategy tactics into the mix. Each Pokémon is assigned a limited amount of steps they can move per turn, in addition to the cost of utilizing an attack. Thus, you have to manage your moves carefully in order to come out on top.
The premise for battling is relatively simple: defend your territory from other trainers as you fight to overtake theirs.
As with most free mobile games these days, there are in-app purchases (gems) that will help boost your chances of success in battle. While Pokémon Duel is clearly a niche game for Pokémon lovers, it does offer one important thing that Pokémon GO lacks—PvP.
Should you grow tired of duking it out against AI opponents, you can use Pokémon Duel’s "League Play Mode" to challenge real-life trainers from all across the globe. We found this element to be pretty fun, and the microtransactions themselves are on the same level as Pokémon GO.
Overall, if you enjoyed Pokémon GO, you should definitely give Pokémon Duel a try. At the very least, it'll help pass the time spent waiting for Niantic to add in the promised PvP element to PoGO!
For all the latest mobile Pokémon news here at Indie Obscura, be sure to check out some of our previous articles including a guide on how to hatch baby Pokemon in Pokemon GO, info on what the Pokémon GO Plus is and how you can buy one (should you want to), and whether or not it's too late for Pokémon GO.
