The digital era has brought with it suggestions that humankind might gradually disconnect from the real world due to an ever-growing digital presence. The advent of online video games seems to have contributed to that narrative. Yet there is one genre of games that persists between both realms: card games. Although many of them have migrated online, they remain popular both on and off our computer screens. But why are they so appealing and how has the Internet influenced the sector?
Card game market value to exceed $5 billion in 2020
We all love a bit of fun and playing with others. Card games exemplify that sentiment – which might explain why they remain one of the most widely popular types of games. According to research published on Statista, global revenue for the market segment of card games is set to reach $5.145 billion in 2020, while annual market growth is projected at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2020 to 2023. This means a per person revenue of $0.7 in 2020, which will climb to $0.8 by 2023. China contributes the lion’s share of that amount, with a total market value of $1,099 million in 2020, with India coming second at $623 million and the US completing the top three at $593 million. Our interest in card games shows no signs of decline – but what is it that draws us to the genre? For starters, it is the sheer familiarity and convenience of games played with cards. Many popular card games are easy to play with friends – or even strangers – just because everyone more or less knows the rules.
The big three in games of chance played with cards are an obvious example: poker (a highly strategic game played across several variants), blackjack or 21 (where dealer and player draw cards and compare hands trying to get as close to 21 points as possible without busting), and baccarat. Baccarat is well-known for its complicated value point system and playing strategy. It has been quite popular with online players and is offered across some online casino providers, where – similar to poker – multiple varieties of the game can be found. Baccarat is also famous as the preferred game of spy and bon-vivant 007 – although in the 2006 ‘Casino Royale’ James Bond movie the producers swapped it for poker. Beyond betting games, bridge is in a league of its own, attracting millions of players worldwide, just in the US, 15 million people aged 45 or over know how to play, while roughly 11 million have stated they would like to learn – and 55% of them would prefer learning to play through a computer program or app.
From traditional card games to modern classics
Yet card games have also evolved beyond the traditional 52-card deck. The card game family includes classics like UNO, the beloved game where players take turns to shed cards by matching the colour or value of the card on the table or play action cards to shake things up, in a race to be the first to empty their hand. UNO has been widely played since its inception in the 1970s – and has recently been relaunched in its online version. ‘Cards Against Humanity’ also falls within the broader genre and rose to prominence thanks to its quirky gameplay of fill-in-the-blank cards that players match to produce funny and usually politically incorrect statements. The game was first released in 2011 after a Kickstarter campaign – and we still remember the game creator’s promise to help defend our digital rights.
Finally, collectible card games have made a big splash in the card game genre – and they are arguably the ones, along with casino card games, leading in the genre’s strong online presence. Among the most popular titles is ‘Hearthstone’, which is based on the ‘Warcraft’ world, building on its characters and elements. It is played online between two players, each taking turns using a deck of 30 cards and a unique hero, in gameplay that brings to mind ‘Magic: The Gathering’, one of the pioneers in the collectible card game genre. As it continues to attract new fans across the globe, science has spoken after conducting research on its computational complexity: with players using a deck of 60 cards across a pool of roughly 20,000 cards, MTG has been officially declared the most complex game ever. A newcomer continuing on this great tradition is ‘Gwent’, an online collectible card game inspired by the ‘Witcher’ franchise and played in turns by two players using a deck of at least 25 cards. Witcher fans will recognize the game as being played by characters in the novels, as well as from a playable version featured in ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’.
Online card games seem to be rising in popularity – which is no surprise. Yet the premise that makes them so popular remains the same across offline and digital versions: just a deck of cards and a worthy opponent or two is all it takes for hours of exciting gameplay.
