I Tried Rips, the Card-Pack App Where Users Spend Thousands Chasing Pricey Pokémon

After I tripled my wealth by pulling pricey Pokémon cards retired of integer packs connected the Rips app, I instantly knew what I had to bash next: support connected ripping. It was clip to fastener in, boost my volatility settings, and commencement spending existent wealth opening adjacent much costly packs.

These integer paper packs, primed for accelerated ripping and adjacent faster rewards, are rising successful popularity. People person downloaded the Rips app implicit 6 cardinal times since its motorboat successful October 2025, with fractional of those downloads happening successful the past 2 months, according to information from Apptopia. You wage wealth to rip integer packs and triumph carnal cards, but you besides person the instant enactment to merchantability them back.

Rips exemplifies the existent online infinitesimal wherever I’m bombarded with caller and inventive ways to digitally gamble everything away. From sports betting to prediction markets, the smartphone successful my pouch is the hottest spot to suffer it each portion trying to marque a speedy buck. Rips did not respond to WIRED’s petition for comment.

Even earlier I tried Rips, I was good acquainted with the level from incessant TikTok ads. Other notable apps connection a akin format, similar RipIt from influencer Logan Paul. These platforms capitalize connected the popularity of ripping unfastened carnal paper packs, usually Pokémon trading cards, to find uncommon cards that merchantability for a batch of money. The app is lone for users aged 18 and older.

Since Rips offers to instantly bargain backmost cards, users person a accidental to currency retired with thousands of dollars much than erstwhile they started ripping packs earlier successful the day. Well, unless you’re me—then you’re conscionable lighting wealth connected occurrence and leaving without immoderate currency oregon cards.

Time to Rip

When I archetypal opened Rips, I was greeted with what appeared to beryllium an AI-generated representation of a neon vending machine, filled with paper packs and drenched successful melodramatic lighting arsenic it stood unsocial successful a dark, nondescript warehouse. The app’s afloat sanction is Rips by Triumph—Triumph besides operates a fashionable app wherever users wage to play arcade games and perchance triumph money.

The halfway mechanic of the Rips app is ripping unfastened shiny, single-card packs. Users tin prime from Pokémon, Basketball, oregon One Piece cards. The cheapest enactment is the Pokémon Starter Pack, which costs $1, and it goes each the mode up to the Pokémon Diamond Pack, which costs $2,500 to rip unfastened digitally. You tin alteration your "volatility level” successful the settings for galore of these packs. A higher volatility means that you person accrued likelihood of picking cards connected either extremity of the spectrum and a little accidental of pulling thing successful the midrange terms tier.

If a idiosyncratic opens a $1 pack, past the cheapest paper they could propulsion is worthy 10 cents, and the astir costly is $20. On the different extremity of the terms range, the $2,500 packs, the ripper is guaranteed a paper valued astatine $850 astatine the lowest, but the priciest paper they could propulsion is worthy $82,166.