Growing up it's hard to escape trading cards. Whether it was Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, or baseball cards, it's likely you encountered some form of trading cards in your lifetime. Nowadays, in the digital world a lot of these favorite card games have been immortalized into games you can download and play from the comfort of your favorite device. So we’ve put together a list of the Top 11 Free card games on PC.
1. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
Check out this beginner's guide on how to start your journey in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel.
Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel is an online trading card game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. It follows the same style as the TCG in real life, bringing mechanics from the IRL TCG into the digital version of the long beloved game. Offering players the chance to collect, build, and face each other in PvP arenas brings the nostalgia of playing at the lunch table into 2024.
With content updates being released regularly, there's always something new for players to jump into. Through a variety of PvP events, battle arenas, and NPCs to duel against, players can unlock cards to help compliment their deck. So collect cards, and build the perfect deck as you strive to be the master duelist in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duels.
With over 10,000 cards to collect, players can build any deck they want as they go through the solo content and uncover the lore behind Yu-Gi-Oh, or PvP and battle in the arenas.
2. Hearthstone
Check out this guide on starting a new Hearthstone game as of 2023 for updates tips and tricks for beginners.
Hearthstone is a collectible card game based on the lore of the Warcraft games, bringing characters and relics from the beloved series to an all new arena. Players build a deck of 30 cards to fight against AI and other players to level up and expand their collection. You must also choose a hero to compliment your deck on the battlefield, and with 96 options, your playstyle is up to you to decide.
New players to Hearthstone are given quite a boost with newcomer events and questlines providing plenty of rewards to help kickstart your hearthstone collection. With a revamped tutorial and beginner questlines, starting is easier than ever. Featuring casual and ranked matches, drafted arena battles and solo adventures there's plenty to do when you first jump into Hearthstone.
The battle is ever evolving in Hearthstone as content updates push lots of new cards into the collection pool, expanding the possibilities for how you defeat your opponents.
3. MTG Arena
If this is your first foray into MTG, take a look at this video for excellent tips and tricks on how to get started!
Magic the Gathering: Arena brings the trading card game to your favorite devices. Released on steam in May of 2023, and slated to be released on consoles in 2024, the player base is growing by the day. Keeping current with the physical release of cards, there's a deep pool of cards for players to collect and use to build their decks.
MTG Arena offers multiple game modes for players to take part in. With limited game modes offering draft style gameplay, “standard” game modes that only use cards in the current rotation, and “historic” game modes that allow any card that's been released to be used, there's endless possibilities for deck builds. The games main focus is PvP, and offers multiple game modes to face off against other players.
Choose between 5 mana types, or combine them in your deck to out smart, and beat your opponents in this classic card game brought to the digital world.
4. MARVEL SNAP
Check out this video by Cozy Snap for some good beginner deck builds in MARVEL SNAP!
MARVEL SNAP is the card game developed by Marvel, where players will collect various heroes and use them to fight off against each other. Collect all of your favorite heroes from the Marvel universe, with over 300 various hero/villain cards to collect. Earn new cards by completing in game achievements and quests, and upgrade the ones you already have.
Players build a deck of twelve cards to take into the arena, and fight it out with other players to prove their deck is the best. Whether you jump into Ranked, Casual, or Conquest game modes, there's plenty to do for players who want to achieve greatness. MARVEL SNAP offers a simpler card game, making it easy for players to jump in and learn the mechanics.
In MARVEL SNAP players compete for control of three areas, placing cards face down, and revealing them at the end of the round.
5. Legends of Runeterra
This is our pick for the best beginner's guide for the Legends of Runeterra.
Legends of Runeterra, developed by Riot Games, is a card game based loosely off of Magic the Gathering. With its own unique world and lore created by Riot from the ground up, it brings an all new experience to trading card fans. Featuring a few characters from Riot’s League of Legends, the story is unique and interesting.
Touted as one of the most generous reward systems to exist in a TCG, the Legends of Runeterra rewards players heavily and often purely for playing the game. Unlock cards by gaining Exp, which in turn will complete quests, contribute to your weekly vault, and various events that may be going on. Cards are pulled from 12 individual “regions,” or essentially archetypes, that they mesh well with, giving the player plenty of options for their build.
There's countless ways to unlock more cards in The Legends of Runeterra, with the weekly vault being the best.
6. Prominence Poker
Take a look at the video above for some high level gameplay in Prominence Poker.
Prominence Poker has been around as a free to play multiplayer poker experience since 2016. With Ring tables, heads up, and tournament game modes available to players, it's the true poker experience brought to the comfort of your home. With six players seated at each table, and able to drop in and out whenever you want, the action keeps moving as you try and bust out your opponents.
Players are given chips daily to help keep them in the action, with the daily chip allowance capping out at 10,000 chips. You can choose from 100’s of cosmetics varying from hats, shoes, facial hair etc. to personalize your player by spending excess chips in the in-game cosmetic shop. Whether you're new to poker, or wanting to learn, Prominence poker has something for everyone to enjoy.
Fully customize your avatar with a large range of cosmetics, allowing players to really be in control of their appearance.
7. KARDS - The WW2 Card Game
Here's a video to help give you some basic strategy ideas from Legendary Tactics to help get you started in KARDS.
KARDS is a collectible card game based on the military forces from WWII. Collect cards from the various great powers of WWII: Germany, Great Britain, Poland, United States, and Imperial Japan. Free to play players will find a lot of success here, with resource management playing a key role in how you develop your deck.
Each game, players will try and destroy each other's headquarters, represented by a card on the battlefield. With a deck of 40 cards to pull from, strategizing and building the perfect combination of forces is key to overcoming the enemy forces. On high levels of gameplay, you can even compete in tournaments that offer rewards to help further your deck, with the championship having a prize pool of $12,000.
Pit forces from different powers of the world in this unique card game based on WWII and the countries that drove it.
8. Cards & Tankards
Take a look at Blitzo's deck building guide for beginners in Card and Tankards.
Cards and Tankards offers a truly unique experience, with VR capabilities that bring the card store experience to the comfort of your living room. Games take place in a fantasy style tavern where two players will sit at a table and compete to reduce their enemies HP to zero. Choose from various factions to build your deck off of, that will change how the game plays out.
Decks consist of 40 cards (no more, no less), with over 160 cards to choose from. The game modes are fairly simple, with an AI available to compete against, or fight against other players. Since the developers introduced crossplay, now is the best time to jump in, take a seat, and build your deck.
Join other players as you take a seat at the table and compete against each other to prove your deck is superior!
9. Dota Underlords
This video is the ultimate guide to early leveling and deck building in Dota Underlords.
Dota Underlords is a Collectible Card Game autobattler with inspiration and mechanics similar to that of chess. Players will place their heroes on an 8x8 grid, where the units will fight each other leaving the strongest alive. The first player to eliminate the opposing heroes wins.
Throughout their time playing, players will earn gold and experience which they can use to upgrade their heroes, making them stronger. Players can compete against other players 1v1, or even in duos, as well as playing against an AI to earn rewards. Players build their “crew” from a shared pool of heroes for each match, using gold to buy and place them.
Compete against 7 other players to wipe the field of the enemy heroes and come out on top in this unique spin on a card battler.
10. Shadowverse CCG
Here we have a great beginner's guide to getting started in this anime styled CCG!
Shadowverse is a Collectible Card Game that's been wildly underrated for what it is. It has a beautiful anime art style, and features some unique mechanics to change what you may think of as a card game. See the linked video for more details on how the game works.
The developer, Cygames, has said the game is meant to favor Hearthstone, but with less reliance on randomness when it comes to the match outcome, leaning more on the players ability to build and strategize. With over 600 cards and 7 classes to choose from, tailor the game to your playstyle as you dominate your opponents in the Shadowverse.
Pit your strongest cards against your opponents and overcome their focus to deplete their health to zero.
11. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
Regardless of your playstyle, this beginner's guide will have some useful tips and tricks for you to utilize as you jump into this classic CCG.
Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links is based in a world where Seto Kaiba has created a virtual reality world to bring together the planets best duelists to try and find the best. It's another installment of the classic Yu-Gi-Oh world we all know and love, featuring characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters anime series. Starting out, play as either Yami Yugi, or Seto Kaiba, and unlock more playable characters as you win duels.
The game uses a game type called “speed duels” where they trimmed the battle phases to help keep the games shorter for casual players. Battle against legendary duelists to unlock their characters, unique cards, and skills, and become the best duelist there is. Duel Links mainly focuses releases on characters and events in the anime, and boasts over 8000 cards to collect currently.
Duel against characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters series, and unlock the ability to use their cards and skills.
