Revival of the CCG?

Card backs from select CCGs; image from herehere

Readers of this blog know I love tabletop games for many reasons. But a subset—collectible card games—I hold dear more than others (I reflect on their attributes and fond memories in other posts).

After the initial CCG boom in the nineties (trying to capitalize on Magic's success), the market crashed. Industry stalwarts Magic: the Gathering, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! remain popular CCGs, but new games fizzle and those that do catch on last just a few years before fading away. But are the tides changing?

Today, I look at 'recent' (2019-present) trends in the CCG world, and some thoughts on what may be their revival. I'll separate them into store-based (meaning they are available in typical game stores, be they brick-and-mortar or online) and kick-started (meaning they are available only in kickstarter or equivalent campaigns). I will *not* be including Living Card Games here.

Store-based

These new kids on the block are not to be ignored:

- Flesh and Blood (2019): designed by a former Magic pro, this fantasy/sci-fi game emphasizes playing in-peron (vs. online). It is highly-regarded and the first 'recent' CCG that I recall seeing in game stores outside of the usual suspects.

- One Piece (2022): based on a Japanese manga series

- Disney Lorcana (2023): this Disney/Ravensburger collaboration that is proving quite popular; their products abound even in retail stores like Target

- Star Wars Unlimited (2024): the latest in a line of Star Wars collectible games; this one is by Fantasy Flight.

- Union Arena (2024; forthcoming): this anime-focused release has some buzz around it.

Kick-started

An increasingly popular release mechanism for all tabletop games, kick-started CCG offerings have been exploding (anecdotally . . . this is my impression). Searching for trading card games (synomous with CCG) on Kickstarter yields 539 results. While some of these aren't 'pure' CCGs, many are, and those numbers are shocking. Here are five of the most popular:

- Metazoo (2020): 5300 backers raised over $1.8M to bring this to life. Largely considered a Pokemon rip-off, this started strong but shut down in early 2024.

- Kryptik (2022): 1300 backers raised $873K to bring this to life. I was given sample cards from a game store when buying another game. The art looks cool.

- Sorcery: The Contested Realm (2023): ~6500 backers raised $3.5M to bring this to life. It has echoes of Magic: the Gathering and seeks to reclaim the 'old school fantasy art' feel. I own some of this; the game enjoys a grassroots community and appears well-supported.

- Neverrift (2024): 900+ backers raised $212K to bring this to life. It is billed a cross between chess and Magic: the Gathering.

- Warlord: Saga of the Storm (2024): 1700 backers raised ~$600K to bring this dead CCG back to life. It just closed.

Thoughts

Do the above releases mean the CCG world is in a revival? Yes and no. On the one hand, the sheer number of projects on Kickstarter indicates a sustained interest in this type of game. On the other, the number of backers (from 900-6500 in the above examples) show that these won't be nearly popular enough to go mainstream. They will be enjoyed in small pockets around the globe . . . just like many tabletop games.

What this does show, I believe, is that the features of a collectible game are well-loved and people want to see games that enable customization (here, of card decks). With small player bases and limited print runs, I suspect these games will be enjoyed for drafting, re-drafting or cubes (using products like Dragon Shield cube shells to re-create randomized packs), and constructed experiences (I just used a lot of terms that may be unfamiliar; see here for an explanation). There will be few if any expansions to make the games 'living;' those that exist will be kick-started and take a while (Sorcery has an Arthurian-themed expansion in the works, due out this year).

Ultimately, I think the future will show that CCGs are back in a muted way: they will enjoy limited edition runs and be held dear by small communities, enjoyed for what they are, but not produce the never-ending run of new cards that make Magic, Pokemon, and a few others both exciting and embarrasingly expensive to enjoy. Perhaps this new approach will make the 'barrier of entry' lower to this genre. Time will tell.