Online Card Games: Which Ones are the best?

People have been playing cards since time immemorial and although we may not realize it, there have been thousands of different games invented throughout the history of mankind itself. However, never before have the numbers been so high as they are today. Not only do most traditional games have multiple digital versions available now from different developers, hundreds of brand-new card games have also made their way onto smartphones, computers and tablets which were created exclusively as video games.

 In spite of there being massive variety in the genre, most of them are not worth playing. Some are just very poor adaptations of classics, while a lot of the newly introduced games lack any originality or interesting aspect to them. If you are looking for a good card game to play online and actually enjoy it, you are in luck. We have carefully selected a handful of excellent games from across the industry that represent some of the best work in this particular gaming genre.

Hearthstone

Hearthstone by Blizzard is widely believed to be the most influential card-based video game of all time. Set in the World of Warcraft MMORPG universe, it has inspired countless clones ever since it came out back in 2014, and till date, remains one of the most played turn based, collectible card games in the world. Once you play Hearthstone, it is possible that you may find a large majority of the modern digital card games to be far too similar.

Admittedly, there are developers who have improved upon the original formula and some of their offerings might even present a better experience because of that, but that's debatable. Either way, Hearthstone remains a must play game for anyone who is looking to get into the whole online card collecting video game genre.

Online Blackjack

Blackjack is at least 400+ years old, as the first mention of the game was reportedly found in a short Spanish story, written way back in the year 1601! It is surprising that in spite of the card game being so ancient in its origin, none of the other contemporary, older or younger traditional card games have managed to adapt so well to the digital format.

Blackjack in a live casino takes the experience even further, as it blurs the otherwise distinct line between virtual and real casino card games. If you like classic casino games in general and card games have always been your thing, you will find both virtual and live casino blackjack variants to be quite amazing.

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

Gwent was originally introduced as a side-game in the epic RPG, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Even as a side-game, Gwent became extremely popular and people who never even played a single RPG before, decided to give it a try just for the sake of playing Gwent.

3 years later in 2018, the legendary developers CD Projekt Red released their standalone card game, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. It was a fleshed-out version of Gwent that has since been improved massively and supports various multiplayer modes for an immersive and addictive experience online.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a single-player RPG campaign expansion for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, but it's also a standalone card game with its own 30-hour+ storyline and unique gameplay elements not shared by the main game. Whether you have ever played Wild Hunt or not, rest assured that you will fall in love with Gwent.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends

Elder Scrolls 6 will probably be released in a dystopian future in the real world, if the latest reports from 2020 are anything to go by. However, as far as card games are concerned, The Elder Scrolls: Legends is a far more polished game that's solid in 2020, as compared to how it was back in 2017 upon release. If you want a break from all those Hearthstone clones out there, try Legends because Bethesda has cleverly added more depth to the card game with a tricky rune system, allowing for more strategic players to shine through. You can check out a detailed review on IGN to know how Legends also utilizes a nifty lane mechanic to set it even further apart from Hearthstone.

Each of the titles here will appeal to a separate group of players, but whichever ones you decide to try out, rest assured that you won't be disappointed.If you are wondering why Uno or Exploding Kittens did not make it onto the list, then that's entirely because their online counterparts are just not good enough to represent how good the card games feel while playing them in real life.