>
While Game Freak is perhaps best known as the creator and creator of Pokémon, the developer has another beloved title. After being hidden in the attic for ten years, it releases a remake of the game where you breed horses and make them race by playing solitaire.
If you’ve never heard of Pocket Card Jockey, don’t worry. Released on the 3DS and mobile phones in 2013, it never found the same audience as its pocket-sized siblings.
Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On is an RPG that lets you collect and breed horses to race in competitions. Winning races isn’t as easy as letting go of your prettiest stump-legged horse and watching it sprint across the finish line. During the race you will be hit by solitary quick-time events. You know, the card game. I haven’t seen many horse races, but I assume that’s how it goes in real life.
Coming to Apple Arcade on January 20, the remake brings with it a transition to 3D graphics from the 2D styles of the original. I hope it stays as cute as the first game.
It seems that the core of this new version of Pocket Card Jockey remains the same: a single player campaign, strategic positioning on the track, horse breeding and power-ups on the track.
A complicated horse story
When Pockey Card Jockey first came out in 2013, it found a lot of diehard fans. See, it turns out that combining cards and knights is a potent cocktail of cute and hard strategy.
The repetitive nature of the game reminded some of Tetris, which is always a fan favorite, while the JRPG elements made for a surprisingly compelling story. The only problem may have been the protagonist’s different goals. If you choose the male jockey, you want to inherit your father’s orange farm. However, if you play the female jockey, the end goal is to have children. While there’s nothing wrong with any of these pursuits, hopefully these binary goals will be revamped in the upcoming sequel.
An apple a day
For those of you excited about the remake, I hope you have an iPhone. Pocket Card Jockey is an Apple Arcade exclusive and is kept behind a paywall. Apple Arcade costs a monthly subscription of $4.99 / £4.99 / AUD$7.99, although it may be possible to purchase the game when it launches on January 20.
Apple Arcade membership also gives you access to a ton of games, but it’s nothing obvious, especially when you add up the price of all your subscription fees. If you’re desperate to test Pocket Card Jockey for yourself, try Apple Arcades’ free trial for the first month; remember to cancel before your time is up if you don’t want to continue your subscription.
As it stands, this remake seems just as fun and addictive as the first. Hopefully, if things go well on Apple Arcade, Nintendo fans can see the solitary horse racing hybrid make an appearance on Nintendo Switch.