Collectible card games for mom and boy
December 8, 2018 11:05 AM Subscribe
Boy wants to play a collectible card game with me — something that can be “our game” — something we will both be excited to play and collect. Your suggestions, please!
I like science, tech, nature, existential questions, funny or cute things. I do not like blood and gore, big monsters, guns, or stompy battle robots. Boy loves all the things I do not like, but can get along with any of my likes if there are darker/edgy elements for him to admire. “Pokémon” “has been ruined” by “too many rules” (insert sassy tone here) says boy, but is a good example of a game that is collectible and has cute and scary characters. Boy loooooves “Zombie world order” but he knows I would only pretend to enjoy it. Do you have any recommendations?
I like science, tech, nature, existential questions, funny or cute things. I do not like blood and gore, big monsters, guns, or stompy battle robots. Boy loves all the things I do not like, but can get along with any of my likes if there are darker/edgy elements for him to admire. “Pokémon” “has been ruined” by “too many rules” (insert sassy tone here) says boy, but is a good example of a game that is collectible and has cute and scary characters. Boy loooooves “Zombie world order” but he knows I would only pretend to enjoy it. Do you have any recommendations?
I’d check out the Adventure Time Card game.
It’s fun and funny with good art and relatively light on rules.
There’s a fairly small list of total cards so you can literally own the entire set without spending thousands of dollars, which is a strong pro in my book.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:29 AM on December 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
It’s fun and funny with good art and relatively light on rules.
There’s a fairly small list of total cards so you can literally own the entire set without spending thousands of dollars, which is a strong pro in my book.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:29 AM on December 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is a boy as in your child?
posted by headnsouth at 5:11 PM on December 8, 2018
posted by headnsouth at 5:11 PM on December 8, 2018
Netrunner is 100% the theme you want and is a really good game in my opinion. The only unfortunate thing is that it recently went out of print, so you might have to pay more than you ought to if you want a copy.
posted by value of information at 5:38 PM on December 8, 2018
posted by value of information at 5:38 PM on December 8, 2018
As an avid player of the Arkham Horror LCG mentioned above, I would caution that if you are not a fan of blood and gore or monsters, some of the card art and scenario themes can be quite gruesome. (I suspect Boy would be a big fan however). Also it is not what I'd consider rules-lite, but no worse than Magic the Gathering.
posted by nothing as something as one at 6:25 PM on December 8, 2018
posted by nothing as something as one at 6:25 PM on December 8, 2018
Dominion is a pseudo-collectible, in that it has expansions, but without the chasing of buying new randomly sorted cards that comes with a ccg.
It's not rules-lite, but it's not going to incrementally version out like something that's growing all the time like Pokémon or Magic. Rules only expand with sets, and for the most part sets' special rules stay contained in those sets.
Further, it's not a game about fighting, but buying property, so no gore or robots, but a fair amount of cleverness is involved, and I have watched a child of about ten embarrass a table full of adults with his single-minded deckbuilding strategies.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 11:48 PM on December 8, 2018
It's not rules-lite, but it's not going to incrementally version out like something that's growing all the time like Pokémon or Magic. Rules only expand with sets, and for the most part sets' special rules stay contained in those sets.
Further, it's not a game about fighting, but buying property, so no gore or robots, but a fair amount of cleverness is involved, and I have watched a child of about ten embarrass a table full of adults with his single-minded deckbuilding strategies.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 11:48 PM on December 8, 2018
Keyforge is really fun! You can start cheap and it isn't essential to dump tons of money on decks, but you can if you want to. The game is just getting started, so the community might not be large in your area, but it seems to be pretty laid back. The game is fairly strategic, but completely playable by all ages. I have lost an embarrassing amount of games to young kids!
The theme is pretty stupid, it is basically a grab bag of knights, thieves, demons, animals, faeries, trolls, beasts, future-people, and...martians? Every deck has three factions in it, so the chance that you will find something you like in a deck is pretty high.
The rules aren't nearly as fiddly as Magic or Netrunner. You never act during your opponent's turn, which simplifies things. Even so, there are still many opportunities for clever play. Tournament play is extremely novel. In some tournaments you play your opponents' own decks against them! So even if your opponent has a super-powerful deck, in game 2 you swap decks and they have to play whatever deck you brought.
posted by a dangerous ruin at 1:52 AM on December 9, 2018
The theme is pretty stupid, it is basically a grab bag of knights, thieves, demons, animals, faeries, trolls, beasts, future-people, and...martians? Every deck has three factions in it, so the chance that you will find something you like in a deck is pretty high.
The rules aren't nearly as fiddly as Magic or Netrunner. You never act during your opponent's turn, which simplifies things. Even so, there are still many opportunities for clever play. Tournament play is extremely novel. In some tournaments you play your opponents' own decks against them! So even if your opponent has a super-powerful deck, in game 2 you swap decks and they have to play whatever deck you brought.
posted by a dangerous ruin at 1:52 AM on December 9, 2018
If Pokémon has too many rules, no CCG or LCG will be simpler. Assuming the existence of rules can be overcome, one of the other Japanese card games like Final Fantasy TCG or Weiss Schwarz could work. Weiss Schwarz has tons of themes based on different game or anime franchises, so there is bound to be something for both of you. FF is based on the different Final Fantasy games and so has a mix of monsters, heroes, summons, and so on.
I've never played Weiss Schwarz so can't comment on game play. I have played quite a bit of FF TCG and found it easier than Magic and a little less complex than Pokèmon, but not by much. There's not as many cards for FF, so it might just take more time. I know that most better game shops should have the demo decks for Final Fantasy and possibly some of the starter sets. If you want to get into it, message me and I can explain more.
posted by fiercekitten at 4:29 PM on December 9, 2018
I've never played Weiss Schwarz so can't comment on game play. I have played quite a bit of FF TCG and found it easier than Magic and a little less complex than Pokèmon, but not by much. There's not as many cards for FF, so it might just take more time. I know that most better game shops should have the demo decks for Final Fantasy and possibly some of the starter sets. If you want to get into it, message me and I can explain more.
posted by fiercekitten at 4:29 PM on December 9, 2018
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If you are willing to go digital, Hearthstone and the gold standard, Magic the Gathering, are both on pretty much every device imaginable.
There are also living card games 'LCG' s that aren't collectible but do regularly dispense content.
Arkham Horror, the card game might be for you. It's cthulu themed and cooperative, you both play investigators with their own decks etc. They also have similarly cooperative LCGs in the Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder properties.
Netrunner is another LCG and is about hackers trying to hack into the servers of big corporations. Its a little rules heavy but maybe the theme would work for you?
If you're willing to get into more than cards, Star Wars: X-Wing has great collectibility and more engaging gameplay (IMO) basically its a game about dogfights between x-wings, tie-fighters and the like. You collect little miniature ships instead of cards. Also on the pricier side.
Between card collecting and minis collecting, there is also the Dicemasters line of games, where you are collecting characters(a card) that come with dice that you put into a pool to form your 'deck'. Comes in Superhero and Star Wars themes.
In any case, the company Fantasy Flight(publisher of all of the above except for the digital and dicemaster stuff) deals heavily in this genre and you should peruse their offerings.
Feel free to memail me if you have questions, I'm quite heavily involved in the boardgame/card game hobby.
posted by deadwater at 11:16 AM on December 8, 2018