Top 8 Card Games iPhone

Card games are hugely popular among those that like trading and collecting, but how do you possibly translate such physical things to a mobile game? Well, it turns out that you can do so with ease! There are a huge variety of card games available for the iOS platform at present, though most of these (including the popular Magic: The Gathering series) is confined to the iPad due to its larger screen. This is also the case with board games, which seem to go hand in hand with card games and attract much of the same audience. There are however some card games out there including a few by big name developers that are also available on the iPhone as well as the iPad and even the iPod Touch. We grabbed a few of these recently and ran through them to come up with a definitive Top 8. We are however in no way card game aficionados, so why not take to the comments section below and suggest some others for us to try out?

8. Nightfall ($2.99)

My playing time on this one was limited but I definitely liked what I saw! One of the more violent CCGs out there and has a certain style that we’ve not seen before. – Download from iTunes

7. Star Realms (Free)

Star Realms takes the classic trading card fantasy ideas and applies them to a landscape that is interstellar, with a premise featuring two space empires that are in the midst of clashing. As a deck building card game, this is rather lean in comparison to others, giving you a small group of scout ships and fighters to start with and then allowing you to race to draft different powerful cards that represent things such as warships and the like. It means that you’ve got to be quick out of the gate, and that the game can be somewhat unforgiving if you’re new to it or slow in general when making your moves. I like the deck building mechanics, and the rules are fairly easy to pick up if you’re been around card games in the past. There is a basic campaign and skirmish mode for free, though you have to unlock multiplayer and more campaigns with in app purchases. – Download from iTunes

6. Shadow Era (Free)

Shadow Era is living proof that digital card games can be just as fun as their physical parents! This one is very similar to the Magic: The Gathering games we’ve seen in the past in terms of format, which will make it instantly accessible and playable for all those who have a minimal knowledge of the genre. Yet, there are small changes and details that are different – certainly enough to set this one apart somewhat and ensure that it is its own game. With Shadow Era, you start by picking a hero card to play as with unique abilities, and then pick your deck based around this one. Different cards will be available depending on the hero card you choose (wizards will get more spell based cards, for example) so think long and hard about the approach you want to take before selecting. – Download from iTunes

5. SolForge (Free)

SolForge is yet another card game produced by the great developer Stone Blade Entertainment, who are by now beginning to make a name for themselves in the market. They are the same group behind the physical version of Ascension, though SolForge is something of departure from your traditional card game format. Here, you attack in order to bring your opponent’s health down just like in any other card game, the difference beind that you can deploy your creatures to attack or block in different lanes. There is also a leveling mechanic that allows you to improve your different units not just after each battle but actively during the game! It’s easy enough to learn but difficult to master, and the slight tweaks to the traditional rule set will be a welcome breath of fresh air for seasoned digital card game players! – Download from iTunes

4. Star Trek Rivals (Free)

Let’s be honest here: the kind of players who love digital card games are also the kind that love sci-fi stuff like Star Trek and Star Wars, which is why so many of the card games out there are not only fantasy but also science fiction oriented. Well. with this freemium Star Trek game you can now bring all of your favorite characters into your digital card game, too. The game is rather stripped down but I think that is probably a good thing, since the design of the menus and interface in particular are free of clutter. Definitely worth checking out for fans of the Star Trek franchise, though those with serious card game experience might not stick around for long! – Download from iTunes

3. Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer (Free)

Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer is perhaps the one card game available on the iPhone that loos better on paper than it plays in practice, but that’s not because the game is bad – it’s because the game looks really, really good on paper! The app was developed with the help of Magic Pro Tour champions Justin Gary, Rob Dougherty and Brian Kibler, and you can really see their influence on the game’s design. Playdek have really produced one of the more polished card games out there on iOS currently, providing players with a basic bit limited fantasy deck to start with and then allowing them to compete with other players and monsters to earn points and unlock new cards. The tutorial in this game is great, and really helps to throw you into the action and learn as you play, and the different AI levels are also great. The base game is free, but there are a range of different expansions that are available as in-app purchases. – Download from iTunes

2. Summoner Wars (Free)

Playdek has converted some excellent tabletop games over the years, but this one might just be their most ambitious to date – perhaps even their most succcesful! What I like most about Summoner Wars is that it combines the ideas behind your typical CCG games found on mobile devices and the board or strategy games you can also find, creating something entirely new. The game is technically free to download and play from the App Store, though the content is basically a demo in that it disables online play altogether. To unlock it, you will need to register and make an in-app purchase! – Download from iTunes

1. Card Wars ($3.99)

Now, this one holds something of a special place in my heart in that I’m nothing but a casual player of digital card games but a huge fan of Adventure Time on Cartoon Network. I did remember wondering when they first aired the episode in which Finn and Jake come up with their own card or deck building game call Card Wars, whether the network had considered developing it further than a mere idea for an episode. This was answered pretty quickly in the shape of a very polished iPhone app. The game is a huge amount of fun to play though I would recommend the iPad version over the iPhone version. The free-to-play aspects begin to kick in at one point however, which is a pain since the app also costs $3.99 to buy in the first place! Still, a lot of fun. – Download from iTunes