When you’re known for one enormously successful series, it can sometimes be difficult to break free from that series and try something different.
This was the dilemma facing Game Freak, which ever since the release of the first Pokémon games in the mid ‘90s has been almost impenetrably tied to that IP.
In an attempt to ensure its staff wasn’t entirely consumed by all things Pokémon, the studio implemented the Gear Project initiative, in which developers can pitch original game ideas during quieter periods.
As programmer and director Masayuki Onoue told us back in 2019, by taking breaks from its flagship Pokémon series, Game Freak’s creators can return to the franchise “refreshed” and transfer their new experience to the famous series.
Among the various Gear Project titles – HarmoKnight, Tembo the Badass Elephant, Giga Wrecker – the one that arguably enjoyed the best reception was Pocket Card Jockey, a quirky 3DS eShop title that mixed horse racing with solitaire.
The game was released back in 2013, and a decade later has now been remade for Apple Arcade. It’s a chance for the game to find a new audience, and a solution for a studio who had already been looking for ways to resurrect the title.
Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! review | VGC
“Pocket Card Jockey was well-received when it was released on the Nintendo 3DS, so we were thinking of making it playable on smartphones,” the game’s director Masao Taya told us.
“We released the game as free-to-play in Japan only, but that did not work out well in business terms. In order to increase profits while operating the game as a free-to-play title, we would have had to adjust the game’s style to suit that format.
“But we lacked the know-how to do that both on the part of Game Freak and on my part as a director, which I think is why that didn’t work out.
“As a result, there was a period of time that went on in which it was hard to make the case for making a new Pocket Card Jockey or a remake of the original game. But in that time, we kept getting support from passionate fans on social media and elsewhere, so we kept wanting to deliver a new Pocket Card Jockey to meet their expectations.
“Against that backdrop, Apple Arcade started gaining attention, including in Japan. Since Apple Arcade was a subscription service that did not require any in-app purchase outside of the service’s subscription fee, we thought that we could make a game that all of our users would be able to enjoy, without having to force it into a free-to-play style, and so we decided to take on the challenge of doing so.”
“…we thought that we could make a game that all of our users would be able to enjoy, without having to force it into a free-to-play style, and so we decided to take on the challenge of doing so.”
The result is Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!, a game that plays similarly to the 3DS original but features polygonal graphics with a dynamic camera, instead of sprites and a side-on view.
“I had very little experience developing 3D games back when I made the original Pocket Card Jockey,” Taya tells us. “Since we also only had a short span of time, we settled on making Pocket Card …….