Card games are easily some of the most popular and time-tested forms of analog games. Card games, whether a one-on-one competition, a single-player experience, or a bigger group activity, are generally distinguished by their combination of skill and luck since a player barely knows which card they’ll draw, putting much of the game up to chance.
While card games originated on tabletops, there are several outstanding video games. Card-based video games, whether a virtual adaption of an existing property or a completely new package, allow for the integrating of many systems and modes that are uniquely possible in the medium. What are the top video games based on cards of all time?
Tabletop Simulator
While it may seem to be a cop-out, Tabletop Simulator is a game that lets you play and access a variety of card games.
Tabletop Simulator allows players to play popular TCGs such as Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon Trading Card Game, or even classics like Poker. As a result, it is the most adaptable and all-encompassing card-based game on our list.
Magic: The Gathering Arena
Magic: The Gathering Arena is a huge video game constantly growing. The game is free to play and has good tutorials and multiple ways of earning additional decks and cards.
Arena offers numerous alternative modes, ranging from Historic and Standard to Draft and Brawl, enabling you to play the game as you wish.
Hearthstone
Blizzard’s Hearthstone is one of the most popular card-based casino games. Players in this intense one-on-one game can access several resources as they play more strong cards as the game progresses.
Unlike several other card games, Hearthstone is a virtual rather than an adaption of a physical property. Hearthstone exploits this by using randomness techniques and updating card effects in ways that would not be possible with paper cards.
Slay the Spire
Slay the Spire is a single-player rogue-like RPG with a fighting system based on cards. As you travel through the game’s dungeon (the Spire), you unlock extra cards for your deck by selecting one of three characters, each with its own basic, distinct deck.
Because the game has several branching courses that could unlock various cards, Slay the Spire has a high replay value because you can experiment with different card combos.
Magic: The Gathering: Shandalar
Magic: The Gathering, the longest-running contemporary trading card game of all time, has seen several video game adaptations over the years. Magic: The Gathering: Shandalar, the first of these games, is definitely one of the best.
The game, released back in 1997, takes the shape of a full-fledged RPG, complete with side missions, encounters, and traversable dungeons as players strive to strengthen their decks and face monsters.
Pokemon Trading Card Game (Game Boy)
The Pokemon Trading Card game, released in 1998 for the Game Boy Color, was a digital recreation of the physical game of the same name. The player fights numerous themed gym-equivalents dubbed clubs as they acquire cards and strengthen their deck like an RPG with many parallels to the main Pokemon video game franchise.
Because the game was published early in the Pokemon TCG’s history, the tutorial taught countless Pokemon enthusiasts the game’s proper rules.
