Hearthstone hit the card game scene in 2014 and literally shocked the world with its popularity. Thanks to Blizzard, the esports scene has become much better with their CCG giant with epic moments in history.
However, as Blizzard imposed harsh sanctions against one professional Hearthstone player for expressing support for Hong Kong protester, the game has witnessed an incredibly low player counts.
People are looking for an alternative card game title and thankfully, there are plenty of good ones in the market. Let’s take a look:
Magic: The Gathering Arena
MTG Arena has always been one of the best and most prevailing card games at any point in history. In fact, the title pioneered so much in terms of the gaming system as well as the competitive system.
MTG Arena updates the game regularly, refreshing the meta and bringing in new cards from time to time. The game comes with a decent free tutorial, making it extremely newbie-friendly.
You can get Magic: The Gathering Arena for free on its standalone client via Epic Games Store. Check out the official game trailer here:
Gwent
By CD Projekt Red, Gwent The Witcher Card Game went above everyone’s expectation as a beautiful standalone adaptation of The Witcher franchise. The game looks insanely polished and balance patches are up regularly.
Gwent is now available via GOG, CDPR’s launcher. Besides, you can also check out Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales – another standalone card-based RPG project via Steam and GOG. Of course, it is available on Xbox One and PS4 as well. Here's its cinematic launch trailer:
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
The Elder Scrolls: Legends has been through lots of ups and downs since the day they entered the card game scene. The publisher has got big changes in development houses, the entire user interfaces as well as much more additional content.
For your information, The Elder Scrolls: Legends has great in-depth story content that has achieved much better than what Hearthstone provides its players.
At the moment, The Elder Scrolls: Legends is playable on PC via Bethesda launcher and on mobiles via App Store and Google Play Store. Console versions will arrive in the future and Bethesda aims to make cross-play/cross-progress system to be viable in advance. Check out its most recent trailer at E3 2019 here:
Ascension
Ascension has a lot of things in common with Hearthstone. Ascension was among the first card game titles to hit the market, releasing tons of updates and expansions in the following years.
The core of Ascension is pure physical deck-building. After the years, it has been refined for the best through various balance patches and hotfixes. Ascension acts as a perfect intro to the whole deck-building genre type of card games.
Ascension is now available for both PC (via Steam) and mobiles (iOS & Android). Let's check out its trailer as below:
Eternal
Eternal entered the card game scene as the closest Hearthstone analog. Therefore, it’s a pretty perfect alternative for long haul Hearthstone players. It feels great to slam your cards on the table, triggering its ability in an attempt to defeat the enemy hero. Once you manage to do so, it looks exceptionally satisfying to see the enemy hero/commander explodes.
Play Eternal right now via Steam, iOS, Android and the Microsoft Store. Here's its trailer:
Teppen
Apparently, TEPPEN looks the wildest among all other contenders. The title features so many classic IPs like Street Fighter, Monster Hunter and Resident Evil. However, TEPPEN stands out from other card games as it focuses on real-time action, rather than the usual turn-based play.
In TEPPEN, the character stories are free to play, but not everything is free. Although some competitive decks are available without spending money, the game features quite an aggressive monetization level. With that being said, you’ll need more than just a quick reaction to win games.
TEPPEN is now on iOS and Android. Take a look at the Capcom Card Battler trailer as below:
The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game
From Fantasy Flight Interactive, LoTR Adventure Card Game is entirely PVE and co-op multiplayer. The publisher has been quite busy launching updates for the game since beta, refreshing the meta and providing new cards, missions, and hero archetypes.
Especially, the PVE in LoTR Adventure Card Game is definitely its selling feature. People will grind ladder runs and once they’ve had enough doing so, it’s the PVE that keeps inviting them back for more.
At the moment, Steam is where you get and launch the game. The developer has plans for a launch on consoles, we just need to give them more time! While waiting, here's its launch trailer at E3 this year, let's take a look: