How Card Games Have Evolved Through the Centuries and Where They’re Going

Nowadays, there’s a whole host of different categories that we bundle under the card games umbrella.

You’ve got all the different games that can be played with a simple deck of playing cards, those with much more intricate playing dynamics and on-card text (like those deployed for Magic the Gathering) and even ones that don’t require paper at all. Within these brackets, there are further variants that continue to help make card gaming as popular as it is accessible, as demonstrated by the success of the format Pauper for Magic.

To get a better sense of where card games are going now, it’s always worth having a look at where they came from and how card games as a whole have developed over time. Some have been endearing enough to stay relatively unchanged for well over a century, but there’s always room for a new, inventive form of the classic entertainment medium to take hold.

Most historians point to ancient China as being the home of the first card game, with that progenitor use of playing cards being yezi ge, or rather, the game of leaves. During the Tang Dynasty — somewhere between the years 618 and 907 — the game came to prominence, but there is debate as to if it was a true card game. The “leaves” part of the name is believed to refer to paper leaves, but some argue that its rules are more akin to that of a dice-based game.

Were yezi ge not to be taken as the first card game that we know of, the title would almost certainly go to the German game of Karnoffel. Brought to light in 1426, the 48-card trick-taking game is still played today. After Karnoffel, it’d be on to a much more prominent game of blackjack. Known as pontoon, according to Britannica, in the UK since World War I, it’s said to hail from the 1700s in French casinos, or possibly from Italy around that time.

It’s an incredibly old card game, with its central aim of getting as close to 21 without going bust and the many chances to apply strategy keeping it an accessible and popular game. Over the centuries, it has barely changed. This is even the case when you consider its live casino experiences from Betway. Single-deck, Atlantic City, classic, Live Lightning, and even Mega Fire Blaze Blackjack all have distinct spins on the game, but are the same at their core. Although the live experience with interacting with a real croupier does bring a fresh twist to those playing online.

Card games, particularly those enjoyed at casinos, have remained popular for centuries, but eventually, creatives worked out that the space on these playing cards could be used for much more than a few symbols. In 1993, Wizards of the Coast proved how popular much more in-depth card games could be with Magic: The Gathering. This decade, MtG has been breaking $1 billion each year in sales, as the Hasbro financial reports show.

After Magic: The Gathering began to gain traction, many more serious efforts were made from companies around the world to get in on the collectible and trading card game angle. After all, card is cheap to produce, and yet, cards could yield tremendous value. In 1996, the famed Pokémon card game entered the scene, offering an accessible path to the hobby.

Now, there are trading and collectible card games for just about any IP going, but it’s these two 90s creations that continue to rule the roost. Under them, however, we have seen how technology has allowed for further advancements in card gaming. KeyForge and its decks that can’t ever be replicated is a prime example. Every deck comes ready to play, is completely unique from all others, and as a result, it can be very competitive and accessible.

In the future, the space of blockchain technology looks to be the next big breakout corner of card gaming. Admittedly, it’d take some push, though. One of the most appealing elements of card gaming these days is the collecting and trading side. Without physical cards, it could be a tough sell. NFTs can bridge the gap a fair bit and offer similar value swings, but a game would need to become very popular and well-supported for years for an NFT card game to reach the prominence of physical card games.

While classic card games from centuries ago remain hits today, as the 90s showed, the premise of a card game is incredibly adaptable, and it might even lead to popular games being made without a shred of paper in sight.