Pocketpair, the creative minds behind Palworld which is due for a 1.0 release sometime this year, have announced that Palworld is now being extended into a new game - a card game!
Details are sparse right now, with there only being a teaser video uploaded to the Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME YouTube channel, and a single blog post on the official website. We do know that the Palworld TCG will be releasing on Thursday, July 30, 2026 and is a 2-player competitive card game which features "strategic and tactical battles". That's describing any card game, but we do learn a very tiny bit about the gameplay.
Quote From Palworld TCG Players fight alongside their Pal companions, gathering resources, and building bases as they aim for victory. These adorable and dependable Pals will utilize their own unique traits to lead you to victory.
Team up with your trusty Pals and experience the thrill of overcoming formidable enemies through this exciting trading card game.
Not Designed by Pocketpair
The card game is not being designed by Pocket Pair, but rather it is being developed by Yuhodo, a Japanese company that has produced other card games including Cardfight!! Vanguard, WeiB Schwarz, and ReBirth for you. Bushiroad, another Japanese company who now owns a 38.3% stake in Yuhodo, will be publishing the game to get the cards printed and distributed to the global audience.
Palworld TCG Gameplay Details
As we previously said, we don't have many details on the core gameplay for the card game yet, but have seen a blank card frame featuring Lamball.
There appears to be space for card text, we're not sure if this is going to be ability-based like Pokemon or if it will be more like Magic the Gathering's single block of text telling you what each card does. Health points could be at the bottom of the frame, with the top left corner being an indication of types, but also types could be seen in the smaller box on the artwork. There is also a line of 5 boxes separating the art and text box, which has one box (on Lamball's card anyway) highlighted in gold.
The text boxes are likely a fixed-size, which if you've seen Cardfight!! Vanguard's cards, you'd know that cards can get extremely complicated. Palworld's TCG therefore could be more approachable by younger audiences and those who want to play more casually, which, if we're being honest, fits the Pokemon TCG quite well.
We have seen the card back for the Palworld TCG which has a nice golden border and feels very elegant and true to Palworld. The fronts and backs of cards definitely mesh together well. There are a lot of card games out there with what I would call "ugly" card frames, though this is largely a problem with digital-only card games, and I feel that Palworld's TCG has a very nice aesthetic from what we've seen so far.
Digital or Physical?
Is this a physical or digital product? It looks like it'll be physical based on the companies involved, though with Pocketpair being a digital developer, it wouldn't surprise us to see the card game get a digital release or at least get tied into Palworld in some way. It would be interesting to see if Palworld's 1.0 release this year, which does not currently have a date, will coincide with the release of the card game.
Overall this is some exciting news for players who enjoy Palworld and the universe they have created, but it's hilarious to see the "Pokemon with Guns" game move over into the TCG territory that Pokemon itself has dominated. Will the game be played by many or simply serve as a vessel to give people pretty cardboard to collect and grade? We're hoping it's more accessible than the Pokemon TCG has been over the past few years and also hoping that the design is top-notch. We'll keep our eyes peeled for more news about the Palworld Trading Card Game and let you know when we learn more.
Comments
lol, interesting ... wanna see how this plays out :D almost feels like they are doing it on purpose for the lawsuit just to step on their toes in a different area