Article Pokémon Shuffle

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Pokémon Shuffle, a freemium game on 3DS systems, was released worldwide on the 18th February this year. It is currently available on the 3DS eShop for a price of...absolutely nothing - It is downloadable for free.

Perhaps this sounds a little bit odd? Well no, because as I said before, Pokémon Shuffle is a Freemium game. This means that while the game is free to download and play, in-game microtransactions will allow you to purchase "Gems", which give access to multiple different in-game abilities.

The gameplay involves matching up rows of Pokémon in a grid, and creating lines of at least 3 Pokémon. These will then cause damage to the opposing Pokémon, until it faints or you run out of moves. By creating lines of more than 3 Pokémon or multiple lines at once, you can create combos that will deal additional damage. Furthermore, when lines are used they will disappear, and Pokémon above will fall to the bottom. If these create additional lines, then you can rack up some serious combos and deal large amounts of damage.

As mentioned before, you only have a certain number of moves you can make. If you use up all your moves, then the opponent will flee causing you to fail. However, if you can deal enough damage to reduce the opponent's health to empty, then you will be given a chance at capturing that Pokémon. Furthermore, any additional moves you have remaining will be added to the "Chance of capture" bar. You then throw a Pokéball, and cross your fingers, hoping for the best.

If successful, then the Pokémon will be added to your team, and you can use them to help you in future battles. However, if it is not successful, then you can choose to either throw a Great Ball at a cost of coins, which will make it easier to catch, or to let the Pokémon flee.

The game has a system of Hearts. Whenever you enter a battle, one of these is expended. One will naturally regenerate in 30 minutes real-time, or you can spend Gems to unlock more. Gems, however, require real-life money to acquire, except through the game itself, which can give you a couple from time to time, though this is a rare occurance.

It functions in a very similar fashion to most Mobile games nowadays, except this time it's available on a 3DS instead. Though the game itself from reading about it may seem somewhat boring, it can be heavily addicting, so I'd recommend giving it a try! After all, it is free! Just be careful not to spend too much money on it. Though the prices may seem small, they can quickly rack up, and before you know it you've spent a fortune.