The Wrapp – Ranked TFT, New TCG and Boaty DLC

Hey there, welcome to our latest edition of The Wrapp.

This is a chance for you to see what the various members of the Pocket Gamer team are planning to play over this weekend and will, hopefully, give you an idea of some of the weird and wonderful things we get up to when we’re not keeping you up to speed with the latest news and tips. Heck, you might even find a new game to play.

Jupiter Hadley

Staff Writer

Not going to lie, I’ll be playing Mankey Community Day in Pokemon Go this Sunday! Niantic has actually challenged ambassadors to do a food bank drive, so we are doing that – which we normally do monthly. It’s going to be exciting to see how it goes on a community day instead of Raid Hour like normal.

I am currently playing a lot of Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket, though I’m in the Lapras battles at the moment which feels gruelling. The game itself does make you wait a long time.

I am also *still* playing Neopets: Faerie Fragments, I am currently on level 246 which is the hardest one yet. I’ve been stuck for two days now, trying several times a day. Sometimes it really just feels like much. So a lot of the same from me this weekend. 

Catherine Dellosa

Reviews Editor

At my last rehab session, I was told that injured muscles take 6-8 weeks to heal, which means I won’t be seeing my Zenless Zone Zero playthrough for the rest of the year. It also means more Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket instead, which I’ve been oddly obsessed with recently between my Neko Atsume-ing and capybara-ing. 

I’ve currently got a steady set of decks for all elements now, and have been battling my way to earn the new Genetic Apex Emblem Event badges just because I like shiny new things. This weekend, I’m hoping to get more wins – or at the very least, send more friend requests to players I do battle with so I can Wonder Pick their decks later on. Yay! One can never have too many cards.

Dave Bradley

COO at Steel Media

Dave is currently out of the country for our Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan event and will likely be far too busy to play any games (except maybe Balatro if he went through with buying it as he speculated last week)

Will Quick

Freelance Writer

Due to recent events, I’m looking for additional ways to distract myself, and continuing my quest to find the best mobile games is a good way to do that. It started as just trying to find a good mobile-only horror game, but that hasn’t yielded the best results (at least based on my horror preference). We spoke on the podcast about whether the best games would have an ending or not, but I’ve come across many contained mobile games that made me feel satisfied.

There’s another factor I’ve got to keep in mind: Ease of access. If I go out to have a coffee or something, can this game be easy for me to pull out and play a bit or do I have to fully shift into gaming mode? Is it easy to play while actively waiting or do I have to be relaxed like I’m taking a break? I’ll return to the Dadish trilogy and see what similar games it leads me to, maybe the best mobile game involves dads.

Stephen Gregson-Wood

Deputy & Special Projects Editor

It’s a dull update from me this week since I plan to play more Pokemon TCG Pocket, where I’m enjoying building up my collection. The little rush I get whenever I pack an art rare or an EX makes the whole thing so compulsive. However, I have a couple of issues with the battles, though a few quality-of-life changes could fix them. For example, there’s no need to flip a coin to paralyze a Pokemon if the attack will reduce its HP to zero anyway. It just needlessly extends the whole experience and removes some of the sheen.

Outside of mobile, I’ll start The Iron Rig DLC for Dredge. I played the base game earlier this year and it’s stuck with me long after getting the Platinum trophy, quickly becoming one of my favourite indies of all time. Given I rate it so highly,  you can imagine my excitement then when the mobile version was announced recently. I didn’t need much of an excuse to fish up more eldritch nightmares, but it’s always good to have one.

Cristina Mesesan

Staff Writer

This weekend is a pretty game-packed one for me. I am sure all of you familiar with Teamfight Tactics know about the new upcoming set, themed around Arcane (the popular Netflix show from Riot Games). Before the new set is out, I plan to reach Grandmaster. As you can imagine, that could be a grind – an hour-long grind.

Aside from the endless TFT gaming, I plan to eat and sneak an hour or two of sleep. Ooof, it’s one of these times when you want to really grind something in a game (in my case, a rank) and you think back to all the times you could have spent an hour or two a day making up for that time. By the next week’s Wrapp, we’ll already be in the new set. Well, good luck to me, I guess?

Dann Sullivan

Editor in Chief

Easy mode. I’ll be playing more Pokemon TCG Pocket, I’m planning to make a much larger dent into finishing the dex. I’ve currently got 172 out of 226 in the Genetic Apex deck and 13 of the Promo A cards, which feels like a decent dent, but I’d like to round it up as I’m continuing to evolve my strategy for beating the current PVP event: Genetic Apex Emblem Event 1.

Aside from that the big plan is to scoot up the country to visit some friends for a housewarming and possibly visit the local Christmas Market. Then it’s back down for the Mankey Community Day that Jupiter mentioned and, well, everything else is a bonus. 

My Balatro groove has slowed as I had a crash after beating the third stake that winded me, but I’m hoping to get some time to sit down with my Checkered Deck and give it another shot.

Iwan Morris

Staff Writer

Iwan is hopefully spending some time resting up over this weekend