5 Things To Know About "Pocket Mortys" Before Downloading

I absolutely love the new mobile Rick and Morty game, essentially a Pokemon clone that takes place in the Rick and Morty Rickstaverse complete with characters and references to the show. Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon (the show's creators) even provided full voice work for all the characters that appear in the game.

Developed by Big Pixel Studios (a game design company based in the U.K.), Pocket Mortys is chock full of Rick and Morty characters, universes and jokes that fans of the show are sure to love, although newcomers will more than likely still get a kick out of it. Pocket Mortys is a marriage of two things I have a deep appreciation for, so that should make it the perfect game in my eyes right? Well yes and no. As much as I enjoy Pocket Mortys, there are a few aspects of the game that I didn't fully understand right away when first booting it up. The game is very much like a simpler version of Pokemon, but there are still significant differences between the two. Here are a handful of facts you should know about Pocket Mortys and what you'll be getting yourself into after downloading the free game on either your IOS or Android enabled device.

The game starts slow and limits the amount of Mortys you can recruit on your team, at least in the beginning

After the first tutorial, the game shows you how to recruit/catch a wild Morty, by weakening him and using an item known as a Morty Manipulator Chip to add him to your team. Initially they only give you that one chip to catch the first (Scraggly) Morty, after that it will be awhile before you get another one. It takes even longer for the MM chips to appear in the shop to be purchasable. If you ride it out and play for awhile though, Morty Manipulator Chips will be readily available for all your Morty catching needs! Also, your party will consist of 5 Mortys, not 6 as we are used to with Pokemon.

Evolution is not accomplished by leveling up your Mortys

As I originally assumed, this was not the case. Pocket Mortys instead relies on a combination mechanic at the Morty Day Care (the place you store your extra Mortys after recruiting more than 5) to “evolve” them. This is done by having 2 of the same exact Morty, for example 2 Self Defense Mortys, and combining them to create a newer, stronger Morty that's also of higher level. In this case Karate Morty will be created and added to your team. This makes evolution a little trickier by having players stockpile the first form of the desired Morty evolution chain to reach the final form, whether that be the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th stage of the evolution. Finding the exact Morty you need might be difficult as the Mortys you find in each universe are randomly generated.

Micro transactions exist in the game, as well as optional video ads that give you more currency to spend

There are A LOT of other Morty trainers to defeat in each universe you go to and Pocket Mortys doesn't allow you to visit the healing center while visiting these universes until after you've beaten the boss of one. With the limited team you have to start with, this can make defeating all the trainers and the Boss Rick of each universe very difficult or even impossible without the proper healing and attack point recovery items. You can get more of these items by defeating a trainer, finding them on the floor, buying them from the in-game shop (which is accessible from anywhere in the game), or using real money to buy Blips and Chitz tickets, which provide more of these items as well as an additional Morty that can be added to your team. 

Unfortunately you'll use up these items quicker than you think and with most Morty attacks having a maximum attack point amount of 10-12, after a few battles you will have no more attacks left to use on your opponents. More of the game's currency can be obtained by watching video ads from the main menu, which provide 30 Smeckles for each ad watched. That's about 7-9 videos to buy 1 healing or attack point recovery item. These videos last between 15 and 30 seconds, but they are necessary to sit through if you want to give your Mortys a fighting chance. That is unless you want to ante up some real cash. Watching these videos was a minor hindrance, but one I didn't mind especially since I needed a break from the action.

Pocket Mortys is not the full Pokemon experience

This may not be necessary to say, but Pocket Mortys is not as deep as Pokemon. For one there are only 3 different types of Mortys (4 if you count the neutral type) and not every Morty even has a type-centric attack even if it is that type. The 3 types are Scissors, Rock and Paper and just like in Pokemon some attacks will work more effectively against certain Morty types than others. As an example, a Scissors type Morty will be effective with his scissors-based attacks against a Paper type Morty. It works the other way too with Paper Morty based paper attacks not being as effective against a Scissors type Morty. When it comes down to it, there is just enough variety to be interesting, but no where near as good as the possible amount of match-ups and weaknesses available in a Pokemon game.

Everyone's experience playing Pocket Mortys will be different

As I've said before, each universe you go to will contain 2-3 different Morty types to catch and add to your team. Since the Mortys that appear are randomly generated in each universe, this makes the game different for every person playing. I've already asked a few of my friends what Mortys they have found in their playthroughs, and for the most part their answers are all different. I'm very glad that this is the case and as a result everyone will have different Morty teams on their quest to become a Morty Master. Also Multiplayer will be available in a future update for the game, which will provide even more fun when trying to outwit your friend's and family member's Morty teams!

Have you downloaded the free mobile game Pocket Mortys yet? If so what is your experience playing through it? Do you agree with my points? Sound off in the comments section below!