What are Hourglasses in Pokemon TCG Pocket

Pokemon TCG Pocket has soft-launched in New Zealand, and many fans across the globe have their sights set on the title to see what it has to offer. When it was announced, one of its biggest draws was that it would let players earn free booster packs, rather than forcing them to purchase cards like some other mobile TCGs. This design philosophy has birthed one of the newest items exclusive to Pokemon TCG Pocket, Hourglasses. They are of two types - Pack Hourglass and Wonder Hourglass.

These items can currently be used to speed up the timer for free-pack openings and the recovery of Wonder Stamina, respectively. It should also be noted that since the game is in its first public testing phase, these items could be altered before the global launch.

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How to use Pack Hourglasses in Pokemon TCG Pocket

Pack Hourglasses can be consumed to speed up the free booster pack timer by one hour (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Pack Hourglasses can be obtained by completing various missions in Pokemon TCG Pocket. The game offers players two free booster packs per day. After opening these packs, players will see a timer on the box, counting down until two more free packs can be obtained. Pack Hourglasses can be consumed to decrease the time on this countdown by one hour per Hourglass used.

This means players will need to collect and consume 24 Pack Hourglasses in order to immediately open another set of packs after the initial two. These items can also be found in the Solo Mode, which can be helpful for beginners, as it avoids the need to win PvP matches against other players.

Additionally, there is a Poke Gold item that players can get by leveling up their account or purchasing from the shop through bundles. These items can be stockpiled or exchanged for accessories. Poke Gold speeds up the timer on opening new booster packs by two hours instead of the Hourglass' one-hour boost.

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How to use Wonder Hourglasses in Pokemon TCG Pocket

Wonder Hourglasses can be used to recover Wonder Stamina (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Wonder Hourglass is the second type of Hourglass item available in Pokemon TCG Pocket, and allows the player to speed up the time taken for their Wonder Stamina to recover. To restore one full point of stamina, 12 Wonder Hourglasses need to be spent. These items can also be obtained through completing missions, as well as a few other means.

Wonder Stamina is useful for the game's Wonder Pick mechanic. This feature allows players to take a pull from a booster pack opened by other players. Depending on if there are higher-rarity cards in the other player's used booster pack, these Wonder Picks could cost between one and five Wonder Stamina.

Players can only restore a maximum of five Wonder Stamina points with Wonder Hourglasses, but three points of "overflow" stamina can be collected by waiting for the resource to regenerate once the initial five points are accumulated. This means players can take up to eight Wonder Picks before running out of stamina.