Best card games for iPhone and iPad
- jul
- 18
Play the right cards at the right time to win with these amazing card games for iPhone and iPad.
Card games have been around for a long time and while collecting physical cards can be fun in its own right, playing them on mobile allows you to collect all the cards you want without taking up any physical space!
There are a ton of card games on the App Store that focus on deck building, strategic gameplay, and card collecting; here are some of our favorites!
- Exploding Kittens
- Hearthstone
- The Elder Scrolls: Legends
- Magic Duels
- Animation Throwdown: The Quest for Cards
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
- Pathfinder Adventures
Exploding Kittens
From Matthew Inman over at The Oatmeal, comes one of my favorite card games ever made. Exploding Kittens is fun, fast-paced, and frantic.
The goal is to be the last person standing. You'll need to play a variety of different cards to trip up your opponents and save yourself from Kittens who happen to have nuclear launch codes.
This game goes by quickly (it only takes about 15 minutes to play a game) making it extremely easy to play over and over again without taking up too much time. Plus, all the cards are illustrated and written by The Oatmeal, so do yourself a favour and read the comics on the cards; you'll be in stitches!
- $1.99 - Download Now
Hearthstone
From the mystical world of Warcraft, comes Blizzard's award-winning battle card game that has been über popular since its release in 2014.
Hearthstone pits you one-on-one against players from around the world or AI opponents of varying difficulty level, so no matter your skill set you can jump into the fray. You'll need to play minions, spells, and other useful cards to lower your opponent's health to zero before they beat you.
As you progress through the game, you'll get more cards, and with hundreds of cards available, there are a ton of different strategies you can employ to win matches.
As is the case with most battle card games, Hearthstone heavily relies on deck building, which can be difficult to master. I highly recommend checking out online communities like Reddit for tips, tricks, and helpful strategies from other players who are pretty willing to help newbies out.
- Free - Download Now
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
The Elder Scrolls: Legends was one of the more surprising games I reviewed earlier this year. I was pretty skeptical that Bethesda was going to make a battle card game that could stand up to the likes of Hearthstone or Magic The Gathering, but luckily I was wrong.
The Story Mode does a fantastic job of explaining the game and all its mechanics and Bethesda did an excellent job making this game equal parts challenging and rewarding, making it very easy to avoid spending money to get better cards.
What makes The Elder Scrolls: Legends stand out from other popular battle card games is its two-lane battlefield. Each battlefield is split into two distinct sections known as lanes. Creatures in those lanes can only attack the opponent's creatures in the same lane. The lanes can also have different effects that affect the outcome of the battles going on in that lane.
Whether you're a newcomer to the strategy card game world or a seasoned veteran, The Elder Scrolls: Legends gets a lot of things right, and I highly recommend giving it a shot.
Note: The Elder Scrolls: Legends is currently only available for iPad, but an iPhone version is coming later this year.
- Free - Download Now
Magic Duels
It would be impossible to write a list of card games and not include Magic: The Gathering. It's one of the most popular collectible card games in the world and has a massive community, both online and off.
Magic Duels really brings the classic Magic: The Gathering card game to the digital space flawlessly. The insane catalogue of cards, all the mechanics and special abilities, the rich and deep lore behind the game, and the in-depth strategic gameplay are all present in this mobile version.
While the campaign does teach you the basics of the game really well, Magic Duels is not really a game for beginners. There is too much history and such a giant selection of cards that you really have to be familiar with the battle card game genre to grasp the more complex parts of the game.
That being said, Duels offers a ton of different game modes, including Story Mode, Practice Mode, Arena Mode, and Two-Headed Giant mode, so if you really wanna learn the game inside and out, you can.
- Free - Download Now
Animation Throwdown: The Quest for Cards
An absolute mecca of cartoon mayhem, Animation Throwdown is battle card game that draws from some of the most popular animated shows on Fox. Your favorite characters from Family Guy, American Dad, Bob's Burgers, Futurama, and more are all included in this hilarious and fun card game.
The very fabric of the universe has been ripped apart and all the cartoon worlds have to battle it out in a game of strategy and wit! Choose a hero and embark on a journey to save the world as you battle your way to the top.
The mechanics in Animation Throwdown are much more simple than other battle card games out there; however, the fast-paced nature of each match mixed with the hilarious writing and characters makes this game a must-have for any fan!
- Free - Download Now
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
It's time to duel! If you were a kid growing up throughout the early 2000s, you knew exactly what that phrase meant. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links brings all the fun of the original card game to your iPhone and iPad screen!
Monsters, spells, traps, and all the other types of cards you remember from the TV show and original card game are back in the fantastic mobile implementation of the game.
The story mode teaches you all the basics of the Yu-Gi-Oh! battle system and pits you against some of the most iconic characters from the show. As you progress through the story, battle other players online, and complete challenges, you'll earn better cards to cycle into your deck.
If you were a fan of the show and the original game, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links is an excellent game to get your fix!
- Free - Download Now
Pathfinder Adventures
Pathfinder Adventures takes the classic D&D-like tabletop game Pathfinder and turns it into a highly complex but super fun card based game.
You play cooperatively with computer AI or real players online to complete an adventure. If you're familiar with Pathfinder, you'll recognize the classes available to you such as such as fighter, wizard, and rogue, as well as numbers that define your character's abilities.
As you progress through the game, your party will receive new items, feats, allies, spells, and weapons to improve your character, and as time goes on, you'll be able to customize your character in very specific ways, making no two adventures the same!
- Free - Download Now
Which card games are your favorites
Let us know in the comments below!