Card Games I’ve Played Throughout My Childhood
Trading Card Games or TCG are a huge part of my childhood. These are the toys that I cherish within me as I grow up. When I was young, my parents exposed me to games that require strategic thinking, they introduced me to chess, Game of the Generals, Monopoly, etc. so early on, I have quite a keen eye for thinking and strategizing when playing a game.
Furthermore, when I was young, of course, I watch television a few times and I get to enjoy Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! on TV. So after I found out that they have card games, I then ask my parents to please buy me some for my birthday. From that point, I continue to cater to trading card games as I brew my own recipes around the certain game. Alas, here are the trading card games I played when I was young.
Hearts
Hearts is a captivating and strategic trick-taking card game where the objective is to avoid scoring points, particularly avoiding the hearts and the infamous queen of spades. The fun lies in the delicate balance between risk and caution, as players attempt to navigate through each hand by either subtly unloading high-point cards on their opponents or ‘shooting the moon’ to achieve a bold victory.
Hearts can be played online at Hearts.land, where you can join games with friends or compete against players from around the world, all from the comfort of your browser.
Spades
The objective of Spades is to accurately bid the number of tricks you believe your team can win, then skillfully play to fulfill that bid, with the added twist that spades are always the trump suit. It’s a game that entertains with its blend of strategy, teamwork, and competitive edge, keeping players engaged round after round.
For those looking to enjoy this classic card game in the digital realm, you can head over to Spades.co to play online with friends or challenge other players globally.
Pokemon
This is my childhood television show and my childhood card game. Pokemon means a lot to me. From anime to video games, as well as trading card games, I always play Pokemon.
In addition, do you know that Pokemon does tournaments all around the world? It keeps the community intact and you can even win prize money for being the best Pokemon trainer in the world. Pokemon turned from being a game to becoming one of the most famous e-sports and trading card sports in the entire world.
I find it quite enjoyable to study and learn each of them. The competitive mechanics and the fun mechanics of playing the game plus the creativity of the pokemon as a pet in the cards make it highly appealable to me. Sadly, I barely have someone to play card games with, so in the end, they just got stuck up in my collection.
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Yu-Gi-Oh! cards have their own unique styles and flavors. Some look cute and some look scary and cool. In our school, cards are not allowed. From time to time, we play in secret with my friends. I enjoyed Yu-Gi-Oh! the way I enjoyed Pokemon, however Yu-Gi-Oh! may rank higher than usual because I have friends to play it with.
Yu-Gi-Oh! also has its own tournaments here in the Philippines, but usually, it is played by adults and has Japanese text on the cards. So being a kid with little to no understanding of the Japanese language, it limits my range to playing the game.
With the same fate as Pokemon, they then went to their storage that I still keep today. Both Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon are the two card games I stopped playing when I entered my teen years.
Cardfight!! Vanguard
The game has a cool concept, you pick a faction you would like to use and you play cards based on the faction. It means if you chose this faction, then it would be better to play those that are from it. It gives a sense of limitations, wherein if you play this game you better use cards of the same nation, if not then your deck synergy will be extremely bad.
A simple premise yet a hard and limited way to play the game. By this time, I learned more about trading cards and their value. Of course, as we grow older, we learn more and more about the world and one of them is money. Knowing that trading card games have value, you then find out that the pricier it is, then the more powerful and popular the card is among many different players.
In addition, this is also the card game wherein I started to compete competitively to get a chance to become the best in the Asia-Pacific region. It would not hurt to dream of representing the country in a card game, am I right? Soon after, I started to quit competitively playing the game because it became less fun for me due to its limited format and gameplay.
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering is a long-running trading card game. The age range recommendation for it is around 13+ years old. It means that the game has a broad spectrum of learning to understand before you can fully start. This is the most popular trading card game in the entire world.
You take on the role of a powerful wizard called the “Planeswalker.” Moving forward, you walk between worlds to meet and battle other Planeswalkers by casting spells and creatures. It is an interesting a fun premise. You get to read the lore of the game and the worlds you go through in their stories. In addition, you get to play an expansive card game with multiple formats, continuing its popularity even today.
Personally, I can definitely say that this game may take some time to learn. You can spend multiple nights before you completely understand the premise and formats of the game. However, once you learn the basics, all you need is experience, and from there you will easily get to enjoy the game.
NBA Trading Cards
Okay, this is actually not a trading card game. This is more of a collectible card game. You collect cards from your favorite NBA players. That’s it.
But more about this collectible game, you get to collect memorabilia from NBA Players such as signatures, rare one-of-one cards, game-worn jersey uniform cut into pieces, etc. It is a hobby of collecting, and the more famous the player is, then the pricier the card is going to get along with its rarity.
Card Games I Play Now
To this day, the card games I play are Magic: The Gathering and Nba Trading Cards. Personally, I play NBA Trading Cards for collection purposes of my favorite players, plus they always have a resell value depending on their performance on the court. This makes them highly volatile. It is a kind of risk to invest, but if you get the right one, then the return on investment gets higher.
Magic: The Gathering, on the other hand, is a fun game to play. Cards in here also have value depending on their power level, print-run, rarity, etc. The immersive experience of playing Magic: The Gathering is definitely something to feel. The story is always great and you can play in as much format as you want. Even celebrities like Post Malone, play this game.
Lastly, I still play Pokemon, however just not the card game. All in all, trading card games are an expensive hobby to get into. In addition, you need to learn certain mechanics and buy multiple cards, to play or enjoy more of them. If you love strategizing and exercising your brain a lot, then try out trading card games.
I highly value things that are sentimental to me and trading card games are one of them. They shaped a huge part of my recreational activities as a child and even now.
