With big games likePokemon,Magic The Gathering, andYu-Gi-Oh!dominating the past 25 years as physical trading card games, it’s no wonder that the video game market wanted a little slice of the TCG pie. At times, they’re incredibly well-made and deserve all the praise they get, while some others are easy to forget due to the saturated market. Don’t let that stop you from trying them all out, but clones ofHearthstoneandMtGaren’t uncommon.
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Luckily, there are some games that shine above the rest. Let’s take a look at the 5 Best Trading-Card Video Games Ever (and 5 You Forgot Existed).
10Good: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
You can’t have a list of trading card video games without mentioning the gold standard for them,Hearthstone. Originating as a card game set within the universe ofWarcraft, Blizzard’sHearthstonehas become top dog in the low-key competitive scenes and esports. The beautifully animated actions don’t feel like you’re just flinging a piece of cardboard onto a table. They come to life, talk, and react.
Since the lore involvesWarcraft, it includes many of the most famous characters and themes from the series. Anyone that enjoys card games andWoWare going to enjoy this game.
9Forgotten: Digimon Digital Card Battle
Most people think of Pokemon when it comes to trading cards. That’s why thisDigimongame,Digimon Digital Card Battle, focused on their own then-current trading card game. To put it in perspective, Digimon’s foray into trading cards hit Japan in 1997, a full year afterPokemontook the country by storm. Similarly,Pokemon Trading Card Gamefor the Game Boy came out andDigimon’s game came out long after.
Unfortunately, this game came out right near the end of the lifespan of the PlayStation, long after the PlayStation 2 was available and was easily forgotten. As cute as Gatomon is,Digimonis just always the bridesmaid toPokemon, but never the bride.
8Good: Magic Arena
Magic Arenahad been in beta for some time now and is just recently stepping into a full release, with full tournaments and big events. It plays just like the physical version of the card game, but with a little more flair. Similar to the olderMagic The Gatheringonline games that had a competitive edge,Arenatakes it step further to learn from competitors like Hearthstone.
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With a focus on helping new players learn to play and get involved, the esports scene aroundMagic Arenais constantly growing.Arenais a great way to get intoMagic The Gatheringwithoutthe need to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars.
7Forgotten: Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories
The re-release remake ofKingdom Hearts: Chain of Memorieson the PlayStation 4 was included in a great compilation package ofKingdom Heartsgames. But, that Nintendo DS version is incredibly forgettable. Do you remember everything good and memorable about the firstKingdom Hearts? Cool, let’s pretend series protagonist Sora lost all of his memories of that story and he has to piece it together using card game turn-based gameplay.
In the grand scheme ofKingdom Heartsgames, this one really didn’t play too important of a role in the lore and could have easily been a single scene in a different game.Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memoriesis just better left unlinked and forgotten.
6Good: Pokemon Trading Card Game Online
So, this one needs a quick mention of the original Game Boy Color game,Pokemon Trading Card Game, which was a self-contained adventure. But, it helped pave the way for the digital online competitivePokemon Trading Card Game Online. Where the original was a single-player story that only included some of the earliest sets,PTCGOfocuses on keeping up with the current meta.
Customize your style, trade or battle with people, and collect the newest cards. Those that buy physical booster packs for thePokemongame can even enter codes to earn a booster pack from the same set in the game, making this a great way forthose that already collectto start playing.
5Forgotten: The Eye of Judgment
You would be forgiven if you forgot all about the PlayStation 3’s peripheral, the PlayStation Eye. It was a webcam that hooked to your PS3. Similar to Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral that came out a few years later, the Eye focused on gestures and using movement from the tracking.The Eye of Judgmentwas a card-based game that utilized the PlayStation Eye for a pretty neat little card game.
Similar to the entire premise of anime likeYu-Gi-Oh!, The Eye of Judgment brought cards to life to have them battle on the screen as players participated in the card battle with physical cards and playmats. It got a less physical spinoff on the PlayStation Portable as well. Unfortunately, a mere 5 years after launch, the PlayStation Eye fell into obscurity, along with any titles designed for it.
4Good: Shadowverse
Cygames, developer ofShadowverse, is no stranger to successful, free-to-play, gachapon-style mobile games. They developedGranblue Fantasyand the Nintendo-publishedDragalia Lost, among many other anime-inspired games.Shadowversemay feel similar to games likeMagic the GatheringorHearthstone, but it deserves a spot due to the unique mechanics (like “Evolve”) and beautiful visual anime style.
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Choose from different “crafts”, such as “Forestcraft” or “Bloodcraft”, to build your decks in a specific theme and focus (think like having a Green or Red deck in MtG). While it doesn’t bring anything truly groundbreaking to the table, the game is surely a good pick up for mobile gamers that like anime and card games.
3Forgotten: Scrolls / Caller’s Bane
After the success ofMinecraft, Mojang wanted to go for a 2 out of 2 winning streak with a new card game calledScrolls. It would mix card game elements with board game elements, but it still be digital. Announced in 2011, Bethesda hit them with a lawsuit to say thatScrollsis too similar to their flagship series,The Elder Scrolls. The game was allowed to retain the nameScrollsunder certain conditions. But, it still led a tumultuous development cycle over the next few years before Mojang eventually said the game was no longer in development in 2015. Late in 2018, the game was re-released under the titleCaller’s Banefor free.
2Good: The Elder Scrolls: Legends
Back in the day, if a successful game wanted to make more money off of their franchise, they turned it into a movie and a comic book and then move on. Nowadays, they turn it into a digital card game as well. Bethesda decided somewhere along the way that making theirThe Elder Scrollsfranchise into more thanjust single-player stories was a great idea(and it was).The Elder Scrolls Onlinecame out as a full MMO, but a card game based on the series did as well.The Elder Scrolls: Legendsbrings in elements from all of the lore. While feeling like a good comparison toHearthstone, the game is sure to hit the mark for mobile gamers that love Bethesda.
1Forgotten: Metal Gear Acid and Metal Gear Acid 2
Metal Gear Solidis a timeless classic, known for convoluted storylines, long-winded cut scenes, and action stealth gameplay that is unmatched to this day.The sequels built on the weirdness and craziness of the original (which itself was a sequel to theMetal Gearseries as well). But, tucked into the spinoffs and side games is theMetal Gear Acidseries. Acid had the workings to be a great game in its own right, including Solid Snake. It was a well-executed game that many fans never played or heard of due to it being on the PlayStation Portable. Then, the sequel focused on a clone of Solid Snake (who is himself a clone). It got weird, even byMetal Gearstandards.
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