Trading card games are no strangers to video games. In recent years, more games are incorporating some form of card play as minigames or mechanics.
Trading cards have been around in one form or another since the 19th century, but it wasn’t until Magic: The Gathering came about in 1993 that trading cards and gaming were revolutionized. After Magic was released, trading card games exploded in popularity. Several other TCGs emerged, like Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. While the level of mass interest has varied throughout the years, TCGs have been an extremely popular form of gaming. With the advent of the internet and new technology, they made their way into video games. Early on, it was only the major TCGs that received their own video games. Soon after that, however, more video games outside TCGs started incorporating trading card games into their gameplay.
Games like Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories utilized deck-building as their main combat mechanic. Years later, Hearthstone pushed the popularity of digital and physical TCGs even further by using mobile devices to open up the genre to more players. In recent years, this has led to an explosion of popularity in TCGs, and trading cards have begun to pop up in more video games. Video games have managed to utilize trading cards to add new mechanics and innovate other genres, which opens up more possibilities in gaming going forward.
Trading Cards Can Enhance Larger Video Games
There are many aspects of TCGs that players love. Some enjoy the deck-building aspect of TCGs while others love battling with card mechanics. Because of the versatility in mechanics and variety of player interests, game developers are able to take different aspects of TCGs and add them to games. Marvel’s Midnight Suns combines deck-building with a tactical strategy game, and titles like Slay the Spire and Inscryption have birthed roguelikes with card battles. Neon White combines card games with a speed-running first-person shooter, which demonstrates how much card mechanics can iterate on popular gaming genres. Card game mechanics can offer an extra layer of strategy and innovation to many games, and it also adds new ways to enjoy existing franchises.
Gwent in The Witcher 3 is a great example of a card game adding an extra layer to a franchise. It was so popular in The Witcher 3 that Gwent spun off into its own game. While not necessarily featured in the base game, other major gaming series have branched out into the digital card game world as well. The Elder Scrolls, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft have each had digital card game spin-offs. Marvel Snap has also brought the Marvel universe into the digital card world. These spin-offs have all brought interesting new mechanics to the TCG genre, and they have opened up a pathway for new and returning players to re-experience the world of those games. Even Genshin Impact recently included a TCG mini-game in an update. These card game additions scratch the TCG itch that many gamers have, and in many ways, they are more easily accessible than games like Magic or Pokémon TCG.
Card Play Can Become a Staple Mechanics in Future Games
While TCGs have been popular for a long time, it is no secret that they have exploded in the last five years. More and more players are discovering the joys of collecting, trading, deck-building, and battling with cards. Digital card games like the aforementioned Marvel Snap also make that process a lot easier and cheaper for many players. As technology progresses, it is likely that more digital card games will appear, and there will be innovations in current TCGs to make them more accessible. With their popularity, they may appear in more AAA games as side mechanics or mini-games, and developers will surely find new ways to innovate using card games to create their own unique gaming experiences.
Trading cards offer several unique experiences that offer a form of gaming that isn’t seen in any other genre. They can be competitive, casual, or cooperative. Video games are the natural continuation of TCGs’ innovative gameplay. It is also much easier to develop digital card games than fund the massive amount of cards that are required in TCGs. It only makes sense for TCGs to invade video games. The possibilities of TCGs in video games are endless, and it is exciting to see what new combination developers come up with next.
