Tycho Magazine ranks our favourite card battlers and card games.

What makes a good card game? Style, depth, a good difficulty curve and fun.

But what makes a GREAT card game? In the words of Regency Solitaire developer Jake Birkett a great card game will leave you wanting to play "just one more hand". We agree Jake!

Here's ten of the best.

  1. Card Crawl - Perhaps a controversial entry on the list, we like that a player can get the full Card Crawl experience in a few hours. Not every game needs to have infinite replayablity. Card Crawl is a small game done well.

  2. Griftlands - Yes it owes a lot (too much) to Slay the Spire but why mess with perfection? Griftlands is slick and fun and exceeds it's roots with a better plot and style.

  3. GWENT: The Witcher Card Game - If you like the Witcher series you will GWENT. Even micro transactions can't take away what a challenging and in-depth game this is.
  4. One Step From Eden - Perhaps the hardest game on our list, One Step From Eden is the best entry in the real-time tactical RPG genre pioneered by Megaman Battle Network.

  5. Inscryption - Easily one of the best card games of all time, Inscryption has a near perfect progression arc for dedicated players.

  6. Stacklands - A perfect mash up of card games with resource management, Stacklands is addictive in the best way possible.

  7. The Solitaire Conspiracy - A wonderful cyberpunk take on spider solitaire that oozes atmosphere

  8. Regency Solitaire - Our favourite card game made using the classic 52 card deck. Everything about Regency Solitaire clicks. A sequel is coming soon and we hope Grey Alien Games can capture lightning twice.

    What did you feel clicked about Regency Solitaire and what did you want to improve for the sequel?

    In Regency England, card games were incredibly popular, and there are some tales of vast fortunes being won or lost at the card table. Fans of Regency romance novels will be familiar with intrigue at the card table, and impossible marriage proposals. So, it seemed fitting to create a card game story set in this time period, and to take advantage of the wonderful architecture and fashion of the era, too.

    For the sequel, Regency Solitaire II, we will be offering new powerups, new characters, new romance AND a bonus story that unlocks once the main game is complete, and a garden makeover project. And we will also be offering more of the same – a return to Bella Worthington’s lavish world with an entertaining story, smooth, carefully crafted solitaire gameplay, specially composed music and endless replayability.

    -- Jake Birkett

  9. Card City Nights - The downtrodden main character of Card City Nights is extremely loveable but the real star in this game is the surprisingly deep and original card game itself.
    10. Card City Nights
  10. Slay the Spire - What can be said about this game that hasn't already been said? Not just the best card game of all time but one of the best video games of all time.

Honourable mention - OscarWildeCard. Well, we obviously couldn't put our own game at #1, could we? :D