Trading Card Games: What are they and Where to Start?

It was then that the familiar card symbols that we all recognize today were first established, though most countries in Europe would have called them by different names at the time. Playing cards quickly became a hit.

The big reason that playing cards became a hit has to do with two reasons; the aristocracy and gambling. Aristocrats quickly began purchasing cards in the 1300s, as they were a foreign, and quite exotic game, that they could brag about. This spurned other aristocrats to acquire cards, and the game quickly spread through Europe.

The other reason is gambling. In the 21st century, most people are familiar with gambling games like blackjack, baccarat, and poker. These games are staple features of rated casino apps for Canadian market in iGaming, and they are most commonly played in gambling-based media, like films, television shows, etc. However, many don’t realize that these games have a long history, spanning centuries.

Playing cards are still incredibly popular today. However, just as popular are their successors, trading cards. In this article, we would like to discuss Trading Card Games, what they are, and what the most popular ones are.

Trading Card Games (TCG) are card games that you need specially-printed cards to play. In other words, the standard 52-card deck won’t help you here. More often than not, TCGs feature cards with printed images, depicting some sort of creature or effect. The images are matched with statistics that factor into the gameplay.

It isn’t easy to give a set of rules for TCGs, as each game has its own unique rule. It is also impossible to combine cards from different TCGs, as they are governed by different rules entirely. In other words, if you want to play a TCG with your friends, you will have to settle on one that appeals to both of you.

Perhaps, the best way to understand what a trading card game is and how it works is to give practical examples. That is why, we’d like to shine a light on some of the most popular TCGs, explain how they work, and perhaps inspire you to begin playing.

Those of you who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, almost certainly have heard of Yu-Gi-Oh! It was during that era that the anime was at its most popular. The story is actually based on an original manga and anime by Kazuki Takahashi.

The “Duel Monsters” card game was first introduced in the manga. Pretty quickly, Konami found that there is a lot of potential here, and so they asked Takahashi to focus primarily on this game, while they printed out the cards and created the rules.

That is how we got the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. In YGO, there are three primary cards: Monsters, Spells, and Traps. Monster cards are your primary weapon, with the goal of depleting your opponent’s life points (usually 8000 to start with).

The spells are tools to enhance monsters or protect yourself. They have unique effects that you can make use of during your turn. Trap cards are special, in that they can be activated during either player’s turn. Usually, they have effects that hinder the opponent, and make it harder for them to deplete your LP.

The Yu-Gi-Oh TCG has introduced a whole slew of other cards, such as Fusions, Synchros, XYZ, and even Link monsters. Each of these cards come with their own unique rules, that change the game quite significantly.

Pokemon has to be one of the most popular media franchises in the world. The long-running, multi-media series has been around since the 1990s, and still manages to sell incredibly well today. At the same time as the original’s game release, The Pokemon Company thought it would be a great idea to release a trading card game to go along with it.

The idea was, indeed, brilliant, and Pokemon’s TCG quickly became one of the most popular games in the world. Meant for players aged 6 or older, Pokemon is a strategy-based card game, that largely plays like a Pokemon video game.

Players send out their Pokemon, and battle with the opponent’s team. Each Pokemon has an “HP bar,” which takes damage whenever it is attacked. Once the HP bar is depleted, the Pokemon is benched, and can’t be used again.

The mechanics of the video game still largely apply to the card game, so certain Pokémon have advantages over others (like water is super effective against fire, but rock is super effective against water, for example). The Pokemon TCG remains one of the most popular games in the world, with professional tournaments being held annually.

Finally, we couldn’t end this article without discussing one of the first, and by far the most successful trading card game of all time – Magic: The Gathering. Based on a large world created by Wizards of the Coast (the same company behind Dungeons & Dragons), Magic: The Gathering created many of the TCG tropes that we still see today.

In the game, there are three primary types of cards: Creature Cards, Spell Cards, and Land cards. In order to activate a Creature or a Spell card, the player needs to have the appropriate amount of Land Cards on the field, and then “tap” them. In order to tap them, the player must place the card horizontally, and then place the Creature or Spell on the field.

Creature cards have further sub-types, with the most popular subtype being the Planeswalker. In the lore of the card game’s universe, Planeswalkers are powerful beings, who represent the different lands of the card game. WOTC has released several comic books depicting the individual stories of each Planeswalker.

Like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon TCG, Magic: The Gathering is played across the world, in both amateur and professional tournaments. The scene is incredibly competitive, which has contributed to the card game’s success.