Pokémon GO vs TCGSim
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pokémon GO
Explore your real world to discover and catch creatures. Train your companions, battle in gyms, and team up with others for epic raids. Your adventure begins as you move through your environment.
- Explore and discover creatures
- Catch creatures to complete Pokédex
- Journey with Buddy Pokémon
- Compete in Gym battles
- Team up for Raid Battles
- Augmented reality gameplay
Read full descriptionHide full description
Join Trainers across the globe who are discovering Pokémon as they explore the world around them. Pokémon GO is the global gaming sensation that has been downloaded over 1 billion times and named “Best Mobile Game” by the Game Developers Choice Awards and “Best App of the Year” by TechCrunch. _______________ UNCOVER THE WORLD OF POKÉMON: Explore and discover Pokémon wherever you are! CATCH more Pokémon to complete your Pokédex! JOURNEY alongside your Buddy Pokémon to help make your Pokémon stronger and earn rewards! COMPETE in epic Gym battles and... TEAM UP and UNITE with other Trainers to catch powerful Pokémon during Raid Battles! It’s time to get moving—your real-life adventures await! Let’s GO! _______________ With the player’s permission, Adventure Sync uses the Health app to enable the player to earn walking distance when the app is closed. Notes: - This app is free-to-play and offers in-game purchases. It is optimized for smartphones, not tablets. - It is recommended to play while connected to a network in order to obtain accurate location information. - Compatibility is not guaranteed for devices without GPS capabilities or devices that are connected only to Wi-Fi networks. - Compatibility information may be changed at any time. - Information current as of July 11, 2019. - Compatible with iPhone® 5s / SE / 6 / 6s / 6 Plus / 6s Plus / 7 / 7 Plus / 8 / 8 Plus / X devices with iOS Version 9 or later installed. - Not compatible with 5th generation iPod Touch devices or iPhone 5c or earlier iPhone devices. - Please visit PokemonGO.com for additional compatibility information. - Compatibility is not guaranteed for all devices. - Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically reduce battery life.
TCGSim
Practice popular trading card games solo with this easy-to-use app. It supports deck tuning, strategy research, and includes features like free card manipulation and dice rolls. Customize your experience with optional in-app purchases.
- Solo play for 1-2 player fields
- Free card manipulation
- Deck and card management
- Import decks via codes/CSV
- Dice roll and coin toss
- Customizable backgrounds
Read full descriptionHide full description
A must-have app for TCG players! This app is a simple and easy-to-use solo play app for popular trading card games. Use it for deck tuning and strategy research. Supported TCG Examples: - Yu-Gi-Oh! - Pokémon TCG (Pokémon Card) - Duel Masters *This app is a non-official app for each TCG. Key Features: - Solo play (supports 1-player and 2-player fields) - Free card manipulation - Deck management (create/edit/delete) - Card management (create/edit/delete) – up to 500 cards - Download cards/decks from deck codes or CSV files - Dice roll / coin toss functions In-App Purchases (Optional): - Remove ads - Increase deck registration limit - Customize card back images Customize field background images *For the setting method, please refer to the X (old twitter) account below. https://twitter.com/TCGSim
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pokémon GO at 4.0 against TCGSim's 3.0. Pokémon GO also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (656K vs 2). TCGSim's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 44%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Pokémon GO sells 21 one-off in-app purchases and TCGSim sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pokémon GO holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pokémon GO has 656K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 44% of Pokémon GO's written reviews are positive against 78% of TCGSim's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Pokémon GO ships an update weekly, TCGSim every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pokémon GO | TCGSim |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (656K ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 43.6% of reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 656K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #1 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 390 MB | 167 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Scopely Explore, Inc. | Kenta Hayakawa |
Customer experience
Pokémon GO
TCGSim
Bugs and requests
Pokémon GO
Reported bugs
4 issues- GPS/location issues causing gameplay problems
- Bugs with egg hatching and buddy Pokémon
- Inconsistent performance across devices
- Glitches with raid battles and rewards
Requested features
5 requests- In-game chat/communication system
- Ability to trade items between players
- More customization options for avatars
- Improved tracking and spawn system
- Easier access to rare/legendary Pokémon
TCGSim
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pokémon GO
- 100 PokéCoins$0.99
- Event Bonus$0.99
- Small Box$1.99
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- Evergreen Ticket 1$1.99
- Event Ticket3 variants$1.99
- Event Ticket5 variants$4.99
- 550 PokéCoins$4.99
- Ticket$4.99
- Event Ticket$7.99
- 1,200 PokéCoins$9.99
- Event Pass Deluxe Plus Points$9.99
- Finale Pass$14.99
- Event Pass Deluxe$14.99
- GO Fest Ticket$14.99
- Finale Pass Plus Points$19.99
- GO Pass Deluxe$19.99
- 2,500 PokéCoins$19.99
- Event Pass Deluxe Plus Points$19.99
- GO Pass Deluxe Plus Points$24.99
- 5,200 PokéCoins$39.99
- 14,500 PokéCoins$99.99
TCGSim
- Unlock Custom Field Image$1.99
- Unlock Custom Card Back$1.99
- Remove Ads$2.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Unlock Deck Slots$2.99









