No ads
Not one. No banners, no videos, and no "watch this to unlock". Nothing gets between your child and their cards.
The card collecting app made for kids
Your first cards, explained.
Scan a Pokémon card and First cards finds it. Tap any part of the card to find out what it means. Then sort your binders, spot your spares and plan swaps with friends.
- No ads
- No accounts
- No subscriptions
- No card prices
Six things you'll never find in First cards
We left a few things out, on purpose.
No accounts
No sign-up, email or password. Open the app, pick a nickname and start collecting.
No subscriptions
Try it free. One small payment unlocks everything for good. No coins, no gems, no monthly bill.
No card prices
Other card apps show what every card is worth. We never do, so swaps stay fair and collecting stays fun.
No photo uploads
The camera reads each card on the phone itself. Photos are never saved or sent anywhere. Only the words it reads, like the card's number and name, are used to find it.
No strangers
Friends connect with a code shared face to face. There's no chat, no search and no way for strangers to find your child.
Scan
Point, tap, found it.
Hold a card up to the camera and tap. First cards reads the number in the corner and finds the exact card, from the classic sets to the newest ones.
- More than 21,000 cards to find
- Photos are read on the phone and never uploaded
- No camera? Just type the name or number
Learn
Tap any part of the card to find out what it means.
What's HP? Why is Fighting bad news for Pikachu? What's the little symbol at the bottom? Every part of the card opens a short explanation in words children understand, using that card's own details.
- HP
- Types
- Attacks
- Energy
- Weakness
- Retreat
- Evolution
- Rarity
- Set symbol
- Rule boxes
Collect
Binders that sort themselves.
Make a binder for your favourites, your fire team or your shiny ones. First cards counts every card and keeps track of which ones sparkle, and a heart marks the cards you love most.
- Plain, reverse holo, holo and 1st edition kept apart
- Spares spotted for you, ready to trade
- Brothers and sisters get their own collections on the same phone
Swap
Plan swaps with real-life friends.
Swap a six-digit code with a friend at school or at the park. First cards shows which of their spares you haven't got, and which of yours they'd love. When they find something special, you'll see it.
- "Leo could give you 4, you could give Leo 2"
- Look through each other's binders
- Cheer when a friend finds a new rare card
For parents and carers
Made for kids. Built for grown-ups' peace of mind.
Children use First cards on their own, so we kept it simple and private from the start.
Just a nickname
No real names, emails, birthdays or photos of your child. We don't ask for any of them.
No chat, no messages
Friends can see each other's cards, and that's all. Nobody can send your child a message.
Codes that run out
Friend codes stop working after 12 hours. There are no usernames and no search, so friends are only people your child has actually met.
Unfriend in one tap
Remove a friend and they lose sight of everything straight away: cards, binders and news.
No trackers
No ad networks and no analytics companies. We count which features get used on our own servers, never with names or anything your child types, and we don't sell or share it.
Photos stay put
The camera reads the card on the phone itself. The picture isn't saved or uploaded.
No prices, on purpose
First cards is about learning and collecting, not about what cards are worth.
Words kids understand
Every explanation is short and friendly, written for young readers who are just starting out.
Free to start. One price, forever.
Collect your first 10 cards free and try everything. If your family loves it, unlock unlimited cards with one payment.
99p
once, for the whole family
- No subscription, ever
- No coins, gems or surprise upgrades
- Learning and browsing are always free
- Any purchase sits behind a grown-up check
Questions grown-ups ask
Who is First cards for?
Children aged about 6 to 11 who are starting to collect, and the grown-ups who keep getting asked "what does this bit mean?". Older collectors like it too.
Do we need to make an account?
No. There's no sign-up, email or password. Your family's collection is linked to the app on your phone, and each child just picks a nickname and a badge.
Can my child talk to strangers?
No. There's no chat or messaging of any kind. The only way to connect is to swap a six-digit code in person, and codes stop working after 12 hours. Friends can see each other's nicknames, cards and news, and nothing else.
Which cards does it know?
More than 21,000 Pokémon Trading Card Game cards, from the classic sets to the latest releases, and we add new sets every week. Tapping on the card itself works on Scarlet & Violet, Mega Evolution and Sword & Shield cards. Every card gets the full explanations below it.
Does it tell us what our cards are worth?
No, on purpose. First cards is about learning, collecting and swapping with friends, not about prices.
What does it cost?
Your first 10 cards are free. After that, one payment of 99p unlocks unlimited cards for the whole family. There's no subscription and nothing else to buy.
How do I get in touch?
Send us a message from the Grown-ups area in the app, or email help@first.cards. Questions, problems and ideas are all welcome, and a real person reads every message.
Is First cards made by Pokémon?
No. First cards is an independent app. It isn't made, endorsed or sponsored by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company or Creatures.
Coming soon to iPhone, iPad and Android
First cards is in testing right now. It'll be on the App Store and Google Play soon.
App Store soon
Google Play soon