Day 7: Collectible Card Games

     Welcome to Day 7 of Tabletop Gaming! In the past week we have covered party and gateway games. Now we start talking about strategy gaming. There are several types of strategy games and I will address one per day. Today we start with collectible card gaming!

    Now I love a good collection. I collect milk glass, nutcrackers, books, old vases, Christmas ornaments, and several other things my husband would like for me to get rid of! My husband has collected baseball cards since college. It is no wonder that our children like to collect also. They collect legos, books, and cards! They don't collect baseball cards. They will inherit Marty's! They collect card games. Some collectible card games are Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic.

     Collectible card games are games in which a series of cards are introduced a few times or several times throughout the year. The cards come in starter decks and booster packs. Starter decks are a box of cards with enough to get you, well,  started!  And booster packs are packs of around 10 or so cards.  They will boost your deck. You buy the cards not knowing what you will get and build your deck from those cards. Just like with baseball cards, there are rare cards and special cards. In collectible card gaming half the fun is the anticipation of the cards and then the fun of opening the pack and seeing what you have! It is like a mini Christmas morning throughout the year!

     Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh are well known collectible games. In those games you collect creatures and use them to fight your opponent. Some creatures deal damage to your opponent and some are used to heal your damage. These are Japanese games based on the cartoon style called Anime. You have probably seen the TV shows and merchandise. These are very popular franchises and local game stores have tournaments. Two of our children played Pokemon for a few years. They prefer Pokemon for the DS. They are waiting for the new Pokemon to be released this Saturday!

     My family plays the game Magic. It is the same premise as Pokemon except in Magic the cards are creatures, spells, and land. The artwork isn't as cartoonish. My family has been playing Magic for several years. A new set comes out every year with booster packs throughout the year. One of the things they like best about Magic is a draft tournament. That is played at a local gaming store (our's is actually called Your Local Gaming Store). You pay a fee, usually around $20, and you get a set of booster packs. As you open the packs you pass the card to your left until all packs are opened. Then you play a tournament with the cards you received and you keep them! Some stores give prizes such as dice sets or store credit. It is fun to play with other people who enjoy the same game and the fun of opening cards with others.

     If you or someone you know enjoys collecting you may want to give these games a try! If you have a child and they once played Pokemon they may want to try Magic. Look online there may be other collectible games you may want to try! Just be sure to get a container/crate to store everything! Have a great Monday!