The best deck-building games

There’s something just inherently fun about building a deck of cards, sitting down, and pitting your collection against someone else in a test of tactics and planning, but with a bit of luck thrown in to keep things interesting. Once computers and video games came along, the first types of games to be made were simulations of real games. Some were sports, but there were also plenty of board and card game translations that were digitized.

Deck-building games were a natural fit for the digital format — you don’t have to worry about losing cards or having to find other people nearby to play against. Plus, with a computer handling all the math and rules behind the scenes, games were much more streamlined and easy to get into. So many years later, not only have all the major physical deck-building games been translated into video game formats, but brand new ones were created that couldn’t be played physically or would be too complex to realistically do so.

This genre spans all types of games, including highly competitive PvP, PvE, roguelikes, and even horror games.

Even some of the biggest IPs have created their own deck-building spinoff games that are a ton of fun to play.

Whether you’re looking to craft the perfect deck to rise through the online ranks or prefer the on-the-fly thinking of a rougelite, here are the best deck-building games you can play right now.

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