Most mornings, I wake up, grab my phone, and start opening some Pokemon packs. Over the past month, I’ve become engrossed in the habit of launching Pokemon TCG Pocket, a mobile version of the beloved card game, and—just like the video games and TV series—catching them all. I’ve burned through many booster packs by now, excitedly filling my digital collection with rare holographic and full-art cards. I can say for sure that I’m not alone in this excitement. My group chats are filled with friends sharing their booster pack fortunes, and my social media feeds regularly showcase screenshots of various haul successes. That’s not all I’ve noticed.
Everywhere I’ve looked this year, some type of card game has been thriving, captivating discussions and minds. Balatro gained traction among gamers early in the year and never really let go. My favorite part of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth wasn’t going on a date with Tifa or watching Nomura and his team reimagine FF7’s story; it was stepping away from the sprawling open world to dive into games of Queen’s Blood, a territory-based card game set within the expansive RPG, and I wasn’t the only one enamored by it. Everyone I know is now playing Magic: The Gathering, and after countless intriguing crossovers and encouragement from friends, I do too. By the end of the year, Pokemon TCG Pocket had become part of our daily routines, letting us chase the exhilarating experience of building a digital library filled with some of our favorite creatures.
The point is: In 2024, we openly committed ourselves to card games. We went all in, as it were, and it’s fascinating to ponder why this trend has gained such momentum in recent times. These games vary in complexity and mechanics, but are there shared qualities that unite all these instances and explain the remarkable year they’ve had?
To begin with, I think many of us have simply been yearning for something more straightforward, and many of the games mentioned certainly fit the bill. Balatro is, as its tagline indicates, Solitaire through Poker, forming a blend of one of the oldest genres and one of the most widely played games of all time. Remove the multipliers, the catchy music, and the booster packs (which can be acquired with in-game currency, not microtransactions), and it presents a deceptively straightforward premise: create winning hands like straights and flushes while gratifying increasingly outrageous requirements and achieving totals. There are certainly mechanical and aesthetic embellishments that complicate matters, such as the inclusion of game-altering jokers and a roguelike framework that allows for endless play, but it is indeed a game you can casually play for hours because, when simplified, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. At a certain level, it’s feasible to engage with these kinds of games, which primarily feature easy-to-grasp rules and setups, on auto-pilot. I can spot a flush and instantly engage in a round of Balatro with hardly a thought while sitting in a crowded airport. Pokemon TCG Pocket actually implements an auto-fight feature for those more interested in the cute creatures than in dueling. Queen’s Blood ultimately evolves into a much more complex game for those who follow its questline to the very finish, but otherwise, it remains a delightfully simple game focused on land acquisition and numerical escalation. It’s refreshing to take a break from world-ending plots, endless menus, and weighty choices to return to something more comforting, and that’s exactly what these card games have often provided. This was true for Triple Triad and Gwent as it is for countless of these contemporary examples, and the longevity of this trend suggests that gamers definitely have an appetite for them. In situations where there’s an undeniable level of intricacy, like with Magic: The Gathering and even high-level play of the previously mentioned games, there’s something else inherently appealing that seems to draw players in, and I know it’s certainly been true for me. There is a social element to card games that shouldn’t be underestimated. The primary reason I’ve recently taken to them is that everyone around me is engaged with them. Many of my closest friends have been purchasing Pokemon booster packs and collecting them for several months or even years. My roommate has begun inviting friends over to play games of Magic: The Gathering’s Commander format at our dining room table for hours on end. For months, I’ve watched from the sidelines as people became enamored with Balatro’s combination of poker and roguelike mechanics, dedicated to runs filled with absurd power-ups and multipliers and creative challenges to outsmart others. As someone who tends to play games alone, or at least with only a very select few, I turned to my colleagues and friends adopting t
