I have seen the cards and a lot of them have cutesy names with a lot of cutesy art, originally intended as merchandising for a TV show. There is also a reasonable level of depth in strategy and tactics, although I am perfectly willing to debate whether this is more or less than a Magic: The Gathering benchmark. Although the adults do not seem to be the majority, they are also not exceptions to the rule, either. Watching YouTube, there are plenty of adult gamers playing very serious games of what has always been advertised as a children's card collecting hobby. I am very interested in finding out why adults are playing the Pokemon TCG.
The reason why I mention all this is because I am making a genuine enquiry and am not idly throwing stones. This is on top of numerous board games and roleplaying games.
I still play the odd game of Top Trumps, as well, of which I own seven official sets and two home-made ones. Online stuff often just feels too disconnected and theoretical, by comparison.įor the record, I play/have played (in no particular order) Magic: The Gathering, Vs System, Summoner Wars, Warhammer: Conquest LCG, Mage Wars: Academy, Epic Card Game, Rune Age, and some others that I can't remember right now. I think actual face-to-face, real-life, human-interaction across a table massively increases pressure, stress and tension, dramatically influencing in-game decisions. My apologies in advance, but I am more interested in hearing from gamers who push cardboard in real-life games, including regular kitchen-table gamers. This is a genuinely serious question looking for considered responses and pros vs cons lists.