History VideoGame / PocketCardJockey

* ViolationOfCommonSense: Forcing a horse to become Runaway may be ''beneficial'' if the horse's ability is Front Runner and it has enough Stamina remaining to survive the stretch. The Front Runner style causes the horse to gain Energy as if it was in a Lv. 3 Comfort Zone if the horse is running very far ahead, which is usually not a good idea since you usually have to expend a lot of Unity Power to normally get there. A Runaway horse will automatically charge to the front of the pack by itself without expending Unity Power, allowing you to rack up Energy quickly while staying in first place, at the expense of a whole lot of Stamina.

* ViolationOfCommonSense: Forcing a horse to become Runaway may be ''beneficial'' if the horse's ability is Front Runner and it has enough Stamina remaining to survive the stretch. The Front Runner style causes the horse to gain Energy as if it was in a Lv. 3 Comfort Zone if the horse is running very far ahead, which is usually not a good idea since you usually have to expend a lot of Unity Power to normally get there. A Runaway horse will automatically charge to the front of the pack by itself without expending Unity Power, allowing you to rack up Energy quickly at the expense of a whole lot of Stamina.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: If you lose four races in a row with a sponsor's steed, the sponsor will give you a bonus of $20,000 so you can buy items. Whether or not you actually buy items with that money is up to you.

* GoldTooth: Mr. Blingman has all gold teeth. He's a good sponsor though, and he's more than willing to fork over some cash if your racing is great or bad.

* ForcedTutorial: The tutorial at the beginning is unskippable, as it's built into the plot. This is particularly notable because ''Pocket Card Jockey'' is very tutorial-dense due to being a rather complex game for what it is.

** Part of doing well in the "race" segments involves hoping and praying that the AI doesn't feel like getting in your way, or else it's trouble for everyone. Another part involves getting a good layout, and more often than not, you don't.

* SaveScumming: Defied. Every race starts with a quicksave, and if you close the game or turn off the [=3DS=] for any reason, you instantly lose the race.

* EndgamePlus: Mature Mode allows you to race with horses that are of four years of age and beyond, meaning that they will no longer grow. Mature Mode introduces two new special card types and removes the Shop. Losing thrice with one horse will force you to Retire that horse, and any money on-hand when that horse retires is transferred to the next cycle if you use a horse belonging to the same sponsor.

* VariableSoundtrack: As your horse's mood lowers, the soundtrack becomes increasingly muffled. Improving your horse's mood will reverse this.

* BlackBeadEyes: Both of the protagonists.

* ShoutOut: Several of the default horse names for opponent horses. Highlights include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros "One-Up Mush"]], [[{{Franchise/Pokemon}} "Pikapika Mouse", "Bulba Soarer", "Mystery Type"]], [[VideoGame/DrillDozer "Spinning Driller"]], [[VideoGame/SambaDeAmigo "Musical Amigo"]], [[{{VideoGame/Mother}} Earth Bound]], and [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama "No We Can't"]].

* TimedMission: Any race that isn't the Debut Race or the Maiden Race has a strict time limit on solitare games. If the time limit runs out, any remaining cards will be discarded and your horse's mood will worsen. This time limit can be affected by numerous factors, including your horse's mood, the Grade of the race, and whether or not Peak Time already occured. START! Solitare also has a time limit on every race; the faster you finish, the better spot you'll end up in before the first game.

* ShoutOut: Several of the default horse names for opponent horses. Highlights include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros "One-Up Mush"]], [[{{Franchise/Pokemon}} "Pikapika Mouse", "Bulba Soarer", "Mystery Type"]], [[VideoGame/DrillDozer "Spinning Driller"]], [[VideoGame/SambaDeAmigo "Musical Amigo"]], and [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama "No We Can't"]].

* BareYourMidriff: Petunia's outfit.

* IdolSinger: Petunia, the pop diva.

'''''Pocket Card Jockey''''' is a... [[WidgetSeries rather unusual]] video game made by Creator/GameFreak, the developers of the acclaimed ''{{Franchise/Pokemon'' series, and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo [=3DS=]. It was released in 2013 in Japan as '''''Soliti Horse''''', then later internationally in 2016 as ''Pocket Card Jockey''.

'''''Pocket Card Jockey''''' is a... [[WidgetSeries rather unusual]] video game made by Creator/GameFreak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo [=3DS=]. It was released in 2013 in Japan as '''''Soliti Horse''''', then later internationally in 2016 as ''Pocket Card Jockey''.

In this game, you are placed into the shoes of the protagonist, a rookie jockey who knows squat about riding or training horses. However, he/she aspires to win the Derby, the horse races to win all horse races. The protagonist approaches a stable owner named Mr. Maekawa, who entrusts the protagonist with a horse. However, as he/she doesn't know how to handle a horse, he/she is [[DeathAsComedy bucked off, kicked in the gut, then run over by a pack of horses.]] He/She is revived from near-death by an angel who looks suspiciously like Mr. Maekawa, who forces him/her to promise to win the Derby, [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment or else the player will never win a video game again.]] To fix his/her problem with horses, the angel enables him/her to ride a horse by... playing solitare. [[WidgetSeries It's that kind of game.]]

''Pocket Card Jockey'' is a solitare/horse-racing game hybrid where the player horse's performance is dependent on solitare games played between racing segments. Performing well at solitare results in better racing, while performing poorly results in low Energy and a very mad horse. At the end, your efforts will be converted into Enthusiasm to charge down the Homestretch. Players will grow their horse through races, and once the horse matures, they may continue racing with it or retire it, after which you may breed horses and start again.

* OldSaveBonus: You can transfer forward your save data from the demo to your full version. This allows you to carry over your puzzle pieces, Trophies, and your mature horse, who has slightly better stats than most of the starting horses.

''Pocket Card Jockey'' is a solitare/horse-racing game hybrid where your performance is dependent on solitare games played between racing segments. Performing well at solitare grants your horse Unity Power and Energy to perform well in the race. Between solitare games, you can spend Unity Power to direct your horse to move, or convert it into Energy. At the end of the race, all Energy is converted into Enthusiasm, and the game takes on a more traditional horse-racing game-type minigame as your horse bolts down the homestretch based on how much Energy was collected in the race.

* ExcusePlot: That paragraph detailing the beginning of the story? That's pretty much the story. The rest is playing card game on horses.

** Part of doing well in the "race" segments involves hoping and praying that the AI doesn't feel like getting in your way, or else it's trouble for everyone.

* ShoutOut: Several of the default horse names for opponent horses. Highlights include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros "One-Up Mush"]], [[{{Franchise/Pokemon}} "Pikapika Mouse", "Bulba Soarer", "Mystery Type"]], [[VideoGame/DrillDozer Spinning Driller]], and "No We Can't".

* UnwinnableByDesign: It's possible for your horse to be entered into a race where almost everyone else is statistically superior, in which case winning may be literally impossible regardless of how you play due to simply being outclassed. Horse-Off-Course will mention this if you lose these scenarios.

* GottaCatchEmAll: Getting all of the Trophies for winning the G1 races. As the selection of G1 races is semi-randomly determined based on your horse's age and running style, winning all of the Trophies can take numerous cycles. Lampshaded by the game, which says [[{{Franchise/Pokemon}} "Gotta get 'em all!"]] when you acquire a new Trophy

* LuckBasedMission: Part of doing well in the "race" segments involves hoping and praying that the AI doesn't feel like getting in your way, or else it's trouble for everyone.