Getting started

How to play

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a two-player game: you each build a 60-card deck, take turns playing Pokémon and attacking, and race to collect all your Prize cards. It takes a few minutes to pick up and a long time to master.

Rather than paraphrase the rules here — where they would slowly drift out of date — these are the official sources, kept current by The Pokémon Company.

Official rules & rulebooksThe full rulebook as a free PDF, plus the current tournament rules and format legality.Pokémon TCG homeOfficial news, product announcements and beginner guides from The Pokémon Company.Play onlinePokémon TCG Live — play free against other people and learn the rules through the tutorial.

New to the game?

The quickest route in is Pokémon TCG Live, the free official client — its tutorial teaches the turn structure by playing it, which beats reading the rulebook cold. If you would rather start with physical cards, a Battle Deck is a ready-built 60-card deck meant exactly for that.

Then what?

Once you know the rules, browse the sets to see what is in each expansion, or start ticking off your collection.

TouchGrass Pokemon is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Pokémon, Nintendo, Game Freak or Creatures Inc. The links above lead to the official sites, which are the authoritative source for the rules.