Most mornings, I stumble out of bed, grab my phone, and crack open some Pokemon packs. Over the last month, I've been consumed by the routine of booting up Pokemon TCG Pocket, a mobile adaptation of the popular card game, and--much like the video games and show encourage--catching 'em all. I've blown through dozens of booster packs by now chasing the thrill of filling my digital library with rare holographic and full-art cards. I know for a fact I'm not alone in this craze, either. Group chats of mine are filled with friends sharing the rewards of their booster packs, and my social media feeds often consist of a handful of screenshots of someone's haul. That's not all that I've seen.
Everywhere I looked this year, some kind of card game was killing it and dominating conversations and minds. Balatro grabbed a hold of gamers early into the year and never particularly let go. My favorite part of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth wasn't taking Tifa on a date or watching Nomura and company continue to reinterpret FF7's mythos; it was taking a break from the bloated open world and throwing down the gauntlet in games of Queen's Blood, a territory-based card game within the expansive RPG, and I wasn't the only one who fell in love with it. Everyone I know now plays Magic: The Gathering, and after numerous alluring crossovers and bids from friends, I do too. And by the very end of the year, Pokemon TCG Pocket became a part of all of our day-to-day lives, allowing us to chase the thrilling feeling of filling a digital library with some of our favorite creatures.
The point is: In 2024, we proverbially bet big on card games. We went all in, so to speak, and it's fascinating to wonder why this trend has picked up so much steam in recent years. These games vary in complexity and mechanics, but are there some underlying qualities that unify all these examples and make sense of the incredible year that they've enjoyed?
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