Card Games

Card games

A card game is any game in which playing cards, whether traditional or specific, are used as the main medium.

There are countless card games, including games that are related in type (e.g. different types of poker). A small number of card games played with traditional decks have formally standardized rules, in which international tournaments are held, but most are folk games whose rules vary by region and culture.

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Traditional card games are played with a deck or pack of playing cards that are the same size and shape. Each card has two sides, a face and a reverse. Usually the backs of the cards are indistinguishable. All card faces may be unique or there may be duplicates in the deck. The composition of the deck is known to each player. Modern card games usually have specific decks, often with more cards, and may contain number cards or action cards. This type of game is generally considered part of board games.

Games using playing cards take advantage of the fact that the cards are individually identifiable from only one side, so that each player knows only the cards they are holding and not those held by someone else. But even this rule is often broken in recent years by modern board games (Hanabi, Tribes of the Wind, and others). For this reason, card games are often characterized as having a high degree of chance. Many games that are not generally classified in the card game family actually use cards for some aspects of their mechanics.

Some pure card games, on the other hand, include a game board (Cribbage, etc.). The difference is that the playability of a card game depends primarily on the player's use of cards (the game board serves as a guide for counting scores or for placing cards), while board games (the main genre that does not use cards) usually focus on the players' positions on the game board and use the cards for some secondary purpose.

The basic types of card games

Stack games

The object of a stacked game is to play several rounds or stacks, in which each player plays one card from his or her hand and, based on the values of the cards played, one player wins or "takes" the stack. The specific objective varies from game to game and may include winning as many stacks as possible, winning as many scoring cards as possible within the stacks won, winning as few stacks as possible (or as few penalty cards as possible), winning a specific stack in a hand, or winning the exact number of stacks. Popular examples are maria, bridge, whist, spades and various tarot card games.

Collecting sets

The goal of a matching (or sometimes "melding") game is to get certain groups of the same cards before your opponent does. In Rummy, this is done through moves and discards, and these groups are called melds. Mahjong is a very similar game that is played with stones instead of cards. Examples of non-rummy match games generally fall into the "fishing" genre and include the children's games Go Fish and Old Maid.

Bluffing games

In bluffing card games, players try to outwit their teammates by playing cards and sharing information about their perceived values or types. A typical representative is the game Bluff!

Solitaire Card Games

Solitaire games are designed for single players. Most games start with a particular layout of cards, called a tableau, and the goal is then to either build a more complex final layout or to clear the tableau and/or draw pile or stock by moving all the cards to one or more "discard" or "foundation" piles. A classic representative is the game of Solitaire.

Collectible Card Games (CCG)

CCGs, or Collectible Card Games, are strategy games designed most often for two players. Each player has his or her own deck assembled from the very large pool of unique cards on the market. The cards have different effects, costs, and artwork. New sets of cards are released periodically, sold as starter decks or booster decks with random cards. Acquiring different cards makes the game a collectible card game, and cards are sold or traded on the secondary market. The most famous representatives are Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Live Card Games (LCG)

LCGs, or Living Card Games, are similar to collectible card games (CCGs), but their most distinctive feature is their distribution method, which breaks away from the traditional collectible card game format. While new cards for CCGs are usually sold in the form of starter packs or boosters (these are often random), LCGs thrive on a model that requires players to purchase one basic set in order to play a game that they can further customize by acquiring additional sets or expansions with new content in the form of cards or scenarios with a precise composition of cards in each pack. There is no randomization involved in this process, so players who get the same sets or expansions get exactly the same content. This term was popularized by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) and applies primarily to their products, however it can be observed that some board game companies use a very similar model. Representatives are Arkham Horror, Marvel Champions and Star Wars - all subtitled The card game.

Deck-building games

These are card games in which the main element is the building of a deck of cards over the course of a game. Deck-building games are similar to collectible card games (CCGs) in that each player has their own deck. However, unlike CCGs, cards are not sold in randomly selected decks, and most of the deck building is done during the game, not before the game. In fact, deck building is the main mechanic of these games. The founder of this genre is Donald X. Vaccarino with his 2008 title Dominion. Other well-known deckbuilding games include Star Realms, the Legendary series, and others.