Traditional trading card games have ran into a competitor that could very well take it’s top place spot in card game popularity. No, I am not talking about solitaire you would play when the internet cut out. I’m referring to the online card games such as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, Shadowverse and the big daddy of the bunch, Hearthstone, etc. These online card games have immensely risen in popularity over these past few years and rivaling their predecessors player base. But what are the differences between these online card games and traditional card games and what are the advantages of online card games.

What are the key differences between these two platforms of card games, they can’t be to different, nut you’d be surprised. Unlike traditional card games where you would have to find someone in real life to play card game you play (not getting into finding someone that plays the same format you do), online card games are well online. That means that as long as you have the game installed on your device and have an internet connection you can play against anyone from around the world whenever you want, where you want to. This is extremely convenient and its the main selling point for most people when they want to choose between traditional or online card games. Some could argue that the lack of person to person interactions is a disadvantage but you’ll come to find out that the number of people on that side of the argument is relatively smaller.

Another selling point for most players is the accessibility to cards compared to traditional card games. If you want to play traditional card games you will always have to start by using real life currency to purchase cards, either packs or single cards. However, online card games are free to download and you can purchase packs or individual cards with in-game currencies that you can generally get for free by simply playing the game, and most often than not these games will give you free stuff when you start playing to help you get in to the game. Now if you want to be more competitive these games might need you to spend some real life currency to get more cards, this is where the term “freemium” comes in. Freemium isn’t a term only true to online card games, this used for any game that is free to download but has a certain paywall if you would like to get competitive with the game, Duel Links and Hearthstone are two card games guilty of this.