This article will not be talking about card games like Uno or Go Fish. Though, as was mentioned in a comment, Uno would be a lot of fun on the blockchain. But I want to talk about more complex games like Hearthstone. You figure collectable card games would be ideal on a blockchain. Look at cryptokitties. And yes, the collecting of cards, including rare ones, does work very well on a blockchain. You could open up digital packs and sell or trade your cards as you go. The problem comes from battling other players.
In order for a card game to be competitive everyone has to have access to the same cards or at least the means to earn those cards. Maybe you need to put 100 hours in or whatever to get the cards to build a proper deck. There are cards that are more rare than others but really they are not that hard to get. And this matters as you cannot have one or two players with OP cards that easily win every match.
So when we have a blockchain version, where all the cards are worth money, the idea of rare cards can be a problem. Unlike an MMO, which encourages players to find rare loot so they are better equipped than others, you cannot have that in a competitive game. This means you are left with a game where it can only be successful if the cards on the blockchain are accessible to everyone. And it is in this problem where we are going to get card games that are going to be scammy as only those with a lot of money can succeed in them.
There is a way we can get around it though. If you have cards that have different designs, like a gold border or a rare picture but still play out as a regular card you can add rarity to an asset and still make it a competitive card game. It might not have the same appeal as a sword that does a lot of damage but it can be a way to add a collectable element without taking away from the game play.
What do you think?
