Phew, finally, we made it back from the Shadow Realm. And sadly, it feels like the Yu-Gi-Oh CCG has gotten a bit stale for us. So, we've done a deep dive to find some of the other fantastic collectible card games the market has to offer. Some are video games, some are purely physical, and a select few are both. But, all of these are card games with a pretty big following and intensely complex mechanics. So, if you're looking for another game to play that doesn't need a duel-disk or all five parts of Exodia, then we've got you covered.
Updated on April 22nd, 2021 by Austin Laymon: In the realm of collectible card games, few have been able to surpass Konami's classic Yu-Gi-Oh. Launching in Japan in 1999 and eventually making its way to North America in 2002, Yu-Gi-Oh quickly became a popular choice for children interested in card games. In recent years, the landscape has changed. Online collectible card games are the new normal, with few still mass-producing physical cards.
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That being said, the surge of new online card games has created some stiff competition for Yu-Gi-Oh. Some of these games have gotten large enough followings to justify printing physical cards for retail purchase. These games could easily unseat Yu-Gi-Oh as the king of card games in the years to come.
15 Ratropolis
Ratropolis is an interesting combination of genres all rolled into one fun-filled experience. Developer Cassel Games did a wonderful job combining real-time strategy, tower defense, and deck building into this rat-themed realm.
The player is tasked with defending a city of rats from various enemies, all while building upon the city's defenses using cards from their deck. With over 500 cards and relatively short playtimes, Ratropolis is an intense, ever-changing experience.
14 Legends of Runeterra
Legends of Runeterra is Riot Games' own League of Legends-based card game and has grown a large following since its release in 2020. The game features familiar characters from League of Legends going head-to-head in an online battle arena.
The game is heavily based on strategy, as deciding when to play a powerful champion card can be the difference between victory and defeat. Long-time fans of League of Legends can easily gravitate towards Legends of Runeterra for a slower, but still competitive experience.
13 Hearthstone
First and foremost we've got to start things off with probably the biggest Digital CCG in recent memory, Hearthstone. This worldwide phenomenon developed by Blizzard is one of the largest games on Twitch and has some of the biggest tournaments/competitions in the E-sports scene. And yes, it is the game that was being shown off when Blizzard (rightfully) got into a bunch of trouble for their way of handling the whole Blitzchung situation. While the game has changed pretty drastically since the release, its constantly getting updates, new expansions, new game types, and new systems. So it's a perfect game to check in on every once in a while.
12 Chroma
Chroma is a beautifully designed free-to-play digital card game. It allows the player to choose a hero and gradually build their deck over time, all while never having to actually pay for cards. There are four main factions in Chroma. Each hero corresponds to one of the factions, allowing for a variety of ability combos.
There is an in-game store that players can visit to buy cosmetic upgrades for their deck, but no purchases of actual cards occur, eliminating the pay-to-win aspect of most card games.
11 Digimon
Digimon fans have been waiting for decades for the release of a collectible card game that allows them to take control of their favorite digital monsters from the acclaimed television series. Recently, their wait came to an end with the official release of the first set of the new Digimon card game in North America.
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Players evolve their Digimon and allow it to learn new abilities so they may power through their opponent's defenses. Victory is claimed when one player runs out of Security Area cards and a knockout blow is delivered.
10 Magic: The Gathering And Its Digital Releases
Alright so we've talked about the biggest digital CCG, now it's time to talk about the biggest physical version. The would-be, of course, Magic: The Gathering. This CCG series has been running since about 1993, and since then has become the premier card game for people to jump into if they love the hobby of CCGs. Magic was also most-likely the reason video game versions of card games even found any success, considering that either Magic Online in 2002 or Magic: Duels of The Planeswalkers in 2009 introduced millions of people to the game. People finally got to train against AI and build digital decks before having to commit to any big physical card purchases, which was a huge help for the hobby as a whole.
9 Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
Let's get meta and talk about a card game that was hidden inside of another video game. Big RPG's have a habit of making neat little "bar games" just for their worlds, and we love it. Final Fantasy 8 had Triple Triad, the indie darling Shovel Knight just released their expansion that had a mini-game called Joust, and The Witcher 3 might as well be called The Witcher 3: Geralt's Quest For Cards.
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Gwent is the game introduced in TW: 3, and it's a blast to play. It's simple mechanically, yet deep strategically. It has different decks based on in-game factions, with each having multiple specialties and configurations, and it has fantastic art. Gwent became so big in fact, that CD Project Red made a standalone game for it, as well as the Thronebreaker expansion for it.
8 Pokemon: The Card Game
Most people who grew up in the '90s knew about the Pokemon: TCG, but the sort of forgot the "game" part of it existed. We were just so excited to be able to collect cards on our favorite Pocket Monsters that the "game" aspect of it kind of fell on the wayside. But, as time has gone on and card games have evolved, so has Pokemon: TCG. Though how much it has evolved has always been up for debate. Still, the CCG player base might be stagnating, but the sales of these cards have never really staggered all too much. People must still like it in some way shape or form, even if it's just visually.
7 Dragonball Super
Originally released in 2008, the Dragon Ball CCG was relaunched in 2017 with new support featuring cards themed after the new series in the franchise, Dragon Ball Super. The game features original art designed specifically for the card game and includes characters from each series under the Dragon Ball banner.
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Players can utilize the different transformations and attacks of the various characters to defeat their opponent. There is a digital client for online play, but most tournaments take place in person with printed cards.
6 Slay The Spire
Now on to the most videogame-y examples, Slay the Spire. This game, developed by Mega Crit, was released in 2017 on Steam and just about every console imaginable. It takes a different approach than MTG or Gwent and instead goes for a more action-oriented sort of Card Game like Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Each playable character (The Ironclad, The Silent, The Defect, and The Watcher) has a wide berth of cards they can "add" to their deck over a run, making each run exceedingly unique. The rouge-like elements combined with the intentionally overpowered combinations some cards is what makes the game truly addictive, and we haven't even talked about the Relics, potions, or passive abilities.
5 Capcom's Teppen
Now we're getting into the games that have the same foundation as many other Card Games but attempt to experiment and branch off in ways all their own. Most card games are turn-based, where a player either plays one card or plays as many as their "energy" pool will allow and then ends their turn.
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Teppen, the Capcom mobile card game, is a bit different. This game is real-time action-oriented, where plays have to execute their moves with little time to think and utilize strategic thinking. Teppen uses characters from all over Capcom's catalog of icons, and it uses a ton of them. We're still getting into it as the real-time part is messing with our brains a bit, but it's absolutely a game people should at least check out considering its free to download.
4 Legend Of The Five Rings: The Card Game
Sadly, before we get into describing LotFR, we have to preface this by saying the CCG version of this is no longer in print. Now, the best way to play in the land of Rokugan is to get the board game version. Players can't use cards from the CCG in the board game version and vice versa. The Legend of the Five Rings game plays a lot like Magic: the Gathering, as they were made by the same crew. But, there are distinct differences. Buying one of the "Core Sets" of LotFR will net players about 239 cards, 3 of which can be put into any one deck during gameplay. And, with expansions, amazing art, and incredibly detailed lore, The Legend of the Five Rings is absolutely a great investment in our opinion.
3 The Red Dragon Inn (And Other Party CCG's)
We weren't entirely sure if CCG fans would consider these as part of the genre, so we put them all as one entry rather than sprinkling them throughout. Where there are board games, there are also card games. And, while a lot of them come with all the cards you'll ever need to play, a lot of them offer expansions or allow players to collect more cards as they learn the game to deepen their experience with it.
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Some examples of "board games" like this as The Red Dragon Inn, Cards Against Humanity, Epic Spell Wars, or King of Tokyo. And quite frankly, that's just the few that we know off the top of our heads. So, if you're looking to collect cards, but not something as daunting as the millions of MTG cards, these games are perfect.
2 Keyforge: The Card Game
Now, in between MTG and these board game card games is Keyforge, honestly one of the most unique ideas for a card game we've ever seen. Usually, in a card game, players buy individual packs or "craft" cards using some sort of digital currency. But, in Keyforge, the decks themselves are purely individual. Each pack contains a combination of any number of cards either new or old to create an entirely new "deck". And, they'll assign a character and theme to this deck, so that players can feel like they're playing as a specific character. If you like character-based card games, this might just be the perfect fit for you.
1 Shadowverse
We can't exactly finish a list of collectible card games without talking about Shadowverse. Shadowverse is a free-to-play CCG video game that is probably still the top-ranked one in Japan. Why is this one so beloved? Well, other than the attractive cast of characters and cards, the game is just very polished. The singleplayer is lengthy, rewarding, and well-written. The voice acting is there, something that isn't the case in most other CCGs. And, the soundtrack is pretty decent!
NEXT: The 10 Rarest Magic: The Gathering Cards (And How Much They’re Worth)