I tried Rips, the Card-Pack app where users spend thousands chasing expensive Pokemon

After it tripled My money by pulling expensive Pokémon cards from digital packs on the Rips app, I knew immediately what I had to do next: keep ripping. It’s time to install, boost your volatility settings and start spending real money to unlock more expensive packs.

These digital card packs, equipped for quick redundancy and even faster rewards, are growing in popularity. People have downloaded the Rips app more than 6 million times since its launch in October 2025, with half of those downloads occurring in the past two months, according to data from Apptopia. You pay money to copy digital packs and win physical cards, but you also have the immediate option to sell them back.

Rips captures the current online moment where I’m bombarded with new and innovative ways to digitally gamble everything away. From sports betting to prediction markets, the smartphone in my pocket is the hottest place to lose everything while trying to make a quick buck. Rips did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

Even before I tried Rips, I was well-versed in the platform through constant TikTok ads. Other notable apps offer a similar format, like RipIt from influencer Logan Paul. These platforms capitalize on the popularity of copying open physical card packs, usually Pokémon trading cards, to find rare cards that sell for a lot of money. The application is intended only for users aged 18 and above.

Courtesy of Rhys Rogers

Courtesy of Rhys Rogers

Since Rips offers to buy back cards instantly, users have a chance to cash out thousands of dollars more than when they started ripping packs earlier in the day. Well, unless you’re me, you set fire to money and leave without any cash or cards.

Time to rip

When I first opened Rips, I was greeted with what looked like an AI-generated image of a neon vending machine, filled with stacks of cards and bathed in dramatic lighting as it stood alone in a dark, nondescript warehouse. The full name of the app is Rips by Triumph—Triumph also runs a popular app where users pay to play arcade games and potentially win money.

The basic mechanics of Rips are to open shiny single card packs. Users can choose from Pokémon, Basketball, or One Piece cards. The cheapest option is the Pokémon Starter Pack, which costs $1, up to the Pokémon Diamond Pack, which costs $2,500 to copy digitally. You can change your Volatility Level in the settings of many of these packages. Higher volatility means you have increased odds of choosing cards on either end of the spectrum and a lower chance of pulling something in the middle price bracket.

If a user opens a $1 pack, the cheapest card they can pull is worth 10 cents, and the most expensive is $20. At the other end of the price range, the $2,500 packs, the ripper guarantees a card worth at least $850, but the most expensive card they can pull is worth $82,166.