TCG Battle Board

Play with someone who isn't in the room

TCG Battle Board lets you play the Pokémon Trading Card Game with a friend anywhere in the world. You both use your own real cards, on your own real table. Your camera shows your table to them, theirs shows their table to you, and the app keeps score for both of you.

🃏 Your real Pokémon cards

A deck you can play with — the same one you'd bring to a table in person.

💻 A device with a camera

A laptop works. So does a phone you can prop up so it looks down at your cards.

👤 Someone to play

Invite a friend with a room name, or use Find Opponent and we'll match you with whoever else is waiting.

Four steps to playing

From a cold start this takes about a minute.

1. Click Play. Make up a room name and share it with your friend — or click Find Opponent and we'll match you with someone.
2. Your browser will ask to use your camera. Say yes, then point it down at your play area so your cards are in frame.
3. Whoever made the room puts you both in seats, then hits Start Game.
4. Play with your real cards like normal. Use the buttons on screen to track prizes, damage and status conditions.

The buttons across the top

That row is the whole app. Here's what each one is for.

Scan your collection

You don't have to type your cards in one at a time — the app can read a whole binder page at once.

1. Go to Collection and press Scan a page.
2. Hold your phone over a binder page so the whole page fits inside the guide box.
3. Wait a moment while it reads every card on the page.
4. Check the list it found, then confirm to add them to your collection.

Build a deck

Decks are lists you keep in the app so you can plan them out and share them.

1. Go to Collection and press Decks.
2. Press New deck and give it a name.
3. Add cards by searching, or pick from the ones you already own.
4. Decks save as you go, and friends can see them from your profile.

Add a friend

Everyone has a friend code and a handle that looks like trainer#000123.

1. Go to Friends.
2. Type their friend code or their handle, and send the request.
3. Once they accept you can message them, look through their collection and decks, and invite them to a game.
4. Your own friend code is on your Profile page if you need to hand it out.

What the buttons do during a match

Everything on screen is there to save you doing the bookkeeping in your head.

1. Prizes: tap up or down as you take them.
2. Damage: add a counter for a Pokémon and adjust it as it takes hits.
3. Status: mark a Pokémon asleep, burned, confused, paralyzed or poisoned.
4. Turn, chat and voice: pass the turn, type a message, or hold the push-to-talk key to speak.
5. Coach: open the Coach tab for suggestions on what to play next. It's optional — take the idea or ignore it.