If you grew up in the 90s or early 2000s, you probably witnessed the advent of the collectible card game (CCG). These games were (and still are) insanely popular, and I admit I still remember the visceral pleasure of opening foil-wrapped card packs. But today, we live in a digital age, one where we can play or watch anything on a television, computer, or mobile device without ever owning a physical disc or cartridge, and card games are no exception. Sure, there’s nothing quite like holding a physical Lhurgoyf card, but these digital card games are very, very, very close seconds.
Hearthstone
Most Popular Digital Card Games
Hearthstone is the undisputed king of the digital CCG. Blizzard took the cards from its unsuccessful World of Warcraft Trading Card Game and re-purposed them into a game that is fast, frantic, and streamlined. And then the studio added expansion after expansion, and Blizzard shows no signs of slowing down. Each expansion brings new cards, new features, new game modes, and whatever else the devs have dreamed up.
When Blizzard last released Hearthstone’s player numbers in 2017, the company reported a whopping 70 million players. For the sake of comparison, Overwatch has only amassed 40 million players. Calling Hearthstone popular is like saying Mahatma Gandhi was a minor player in India’s road to independence.
Gwent
Most Popular Digital Card Games
While CD Projekt RED doesn’t have quite as many notches under its belt as Blizzard, the studio seems to be a modern King Midas because everything it touches turns to gold. Granted, all it’s touched has been The Witcher, but still, nobody expected a CCG essentially invented for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to turn into a cult-classic phenomenon. But what do you expect from a card game that plays like no other on the market?
Gwent is a difficult game to track since it is available on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. And I don’t just mean the standalone game; Gwent is still a somewhat vital part of The Witcher 3, which has sold millions of copies. Of course, this doesn’t take into account gamers who have played both the standalone version of Gwent the Witcher 3 mini-game version, but millions of players is still millions of players.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
Most Popular Digital Card Games
When a popular game comes around, many studios are willing to copy its formula wholesale and change very little. The Elder Scrolls: Legends, at first glance, seems like a straight-up Hearthstone clone, but Legends adds numerous features that help it stand out, such as unit lanes, player classes, and prophecy cards.
Like Gwent, The Elder Scrolls: Legends is available on multiple platforms. While the game isn’t too popular on PC, it has been downloaded onto over one million Android devices. The game isn’t quite as popular as The Elder Scrolls Online, but Legends is still up there in terms of digital CCGs.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
Most Popular Digital Card Games
Somehow, by some small miracle, the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise has survived if not thrived under Konami. Even the mobile game Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links is doing well, mostly because it faithfully translates the physical card game’s mechanics over to a digital format. And it rekindles what gamers love about the anime with voice clips and 3D models of the most iconic creatures.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links was ported over to the PC via Steam late last year, and while it hasn’t taken off quite like Hearthstone, it has still amassed a respectable 15-16,000 players. But that’s nothing compared to Duel Link’s mobile player base, as the game has been downloaded well over 10 million times on Android phones alone. Even after 16 years, CCG fans still want to duel.
Tabletop Simulator
Most Popular Digital Card Games
While not a card game per se, Tabletop Simulator lets gamers play card games with friends thanks to the Steam Workshop. You name a card game (or any tabletop game, for that matter) and there’s a mod for it in Tabletop Simulator. Poker? Check. Yu-Gi-Oh!? Check. Cards Against Humanity? Check. The possibilities are literally limitless.
Tabletop Simulator hasn’t quite attracted 5,000 players just yet — and probably never will — but it maintains a sizable player base. If you ever wanted a game that lets you play any (card) game with your friends no matter where you are, Tabletop Simulator will suit your needs.
Magic: The Gathering
Most Popular Digital Card Games
You didn’t think the digital version of Magic: The Gathering wasn’t going to make it into this list, did you? The franchise is only the reason why CCGs are so popular in the first place. While the people who made Magic have gone on to do other things, the game has survived the test of time as well as the leap to digital devices.
There is no shortage of Magic: The Gathering video games. Android device owners have Magic 2015. Steam, Xbox One, and Apple device users have Magic Duels. Magic: The Gathering Arena is currently in beta. They’re all essentially the same game with a few minor differences here and there, usually aesthetics and available expansions. But, while we don’t have exact numbers, these games have amassed over a million players total.
Slay the Spire
Most Popular Digital Card Games
Slay the Spire is a combination nobody thought could work: turn/card-based combat with roguelike elements. As players make their way through each playthrough, they gain new and more powerful cards, but all it takes is one death to send them back to start. All of their progress erased, all their new cards relinquished. Each playthrough is a new and exciting experience.
Slay the Spire averages around 10,000 players a day, which is nothing to sneeze at for a small indie title. The game is constantly updated, so if Slay the Spire doesn’t pique your interest just yet, wait a bit and come back; you might like what you find.
Shadowverse CCG
Most Popular Digital Card Games
Sex sells. Regardless or whether or not you find that statement sexist, it’s still true. Just put an attractive woman in something and you’re more likely to get people to buy or use it, and Shadowverse CCG has that in spades. The game is essentially Hearthstone but with a heavy focus on attractive (and busty) anime women, which might explain its popularity.
Shadowverse CCG does relatively well for a card game on Steam, attracting just shy of 9,000 players. But, like many CCGs on mobile devices, it has well over one million downloads on Android alone. Yet Shadowverse CCG is nothing more than a slightly stripped down Hearthstone with anime women. And some anime men, but mostly anime women.
Cultist Simulator
Most Popular Digital Card Games
Cultist Simulator isn’t a game where players collect cards to modify a deck. No, the game revolves around utilizing cards as resources to gain different cards, all while maintaining certain stats represented by the cards. Cultist Simulator is essentially a game about balance, moderation, and knowing what to sacrifice and when for great rewards — all with cards.
Cultist Simulator was only released several days ago, but it has already proven popular, as it has acquired almost 3,000 players in its short lifespan. Since the game was designed by Alexis Kennedy, the creator of Fallen London and Sunless Sea, Cultist Simulator might easily become yet another cult-classic.
Mobius Final Fantasy
Most Popular Digital Card Games
Final Fantasy fans shudder are the utterance of “Final Fantasy mobile game” and “Final Fantasy XIII.” Square Enix has created more bad mobile Final Fantasy games than good, and many gamers agree that Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII are among the worst in the franchise. So what happens when Square Enix creates a mobile game with the combat system from Lightning Returns? Something that is actually not too bad, especially since it uses collectible and upgradable cards as attacks and spells.
The official site for Mobius Final Fantasy boasts the game has “10 million users worldwide,” which isn’t too ludicrous a claim since it is one of the better Final Fantasy mobile games out there. Mobius Final Fantasy is a far cry from the lofty heights of Final Fantasy VI and XV, but it’s also an interesting look into how game studios used to try to implement collectible card game elements into RPG games.
Evil Apples
Most Popular Digital Card Games — Honorable Mention
If you have spent any time on the internet, especially Kickstarter, odds are you have heard about the success story that is Cards Against Humanity. Each player draws several white cards, and one draws a black card. The other players each submit the white card they think fills in the blank best. However, there is no such thing as family-friendly answer; Cards Against Humanity is designed for adults with dirty minds by adults with dirty minds. While the game is extremely popular, it doesn’t have an official digital version. Evil Apples is the unofficial mobile game that essentially lets people play Cards Against Humanity on their smartphones. It’s also only for mature audiences, which is why it is only an honorable mention.
Microsoft Solitaire
Most Popular Digital Card Games — Honorable Mention
It’s Solitaire, the game that has been included with every single Windows computer since 1990. It’s simple, short, and synonymous with the operating systems. If you just want to kill a few minutes with a classic card game on your computer, just play Microsoft Solitaire.
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