It’s time to peruse the central market row for new cards to add into your deck – as we check out the best deck building card games!
Though deck building games are nothing new, they’ve massively risen in popularity in recent years.
What’s behind the rise in popularity of the deck building genre?
Well, for the most part they’re pretty straightforward games to pick up.
Commonly, players will start on even ground, with the same cards available to them in a small deck, which they’ll gradually improve by purchasing cards from a shared selection of cards in order to improve their deck as they proceed.
Most deck building games have the competitive feel of a CCG, except instead of the deck building being something you do outside of actually playing the game, it’s woven into the game’s mechanics to take place as you play!
If you’ve checked out any other deck building articles on Card Gamer, you’ll know we have a few firm favourites that aren’t just some of our favourite deck building games – they’re among our favourite games ever, overall!
So which do we consider the best?
Let’s find out, as we check out the best deck building card games!
1. Star Realms (2014)
I’ve come to the conclusion that Star Realms just might be one of the best games I’ve ever played, let alone the finest deck building game.
There’s a number of reasons for that – which of course we’ll go into now!
Star Realms is a game that’s incredibly easy to learn, with new players being just as likely to win a game as seasoned veterans.
Starting with a deck of 10 cards – 8 of which produce the resources needed to buy new cards, from a shared ‘market’ row, and two of which attack your opponent, with the overall aim of the game being to reduce your opponent’s ‘Authority’ from 50 points to zero.
Aside from your starter cards – and the Explorer cards you can buy at any time – all cards, which represent either starships or bases, belong to one of four factions.
Each faction has a different speciality and, if cards share a faction, they usually offer combo bonuses above and beyond their standard card ability.
The design of each card, including abilities and icons, is incredibly clean and easy for even beginners to decipher and the perfectly symmetrical start – aside from the fact that opening hands will of course differ between players – means that neither player will be at a huge advantage at the outset.
It’s a wonderfully balanced game and Star Realms is well supported, with extra expansions that often function as standalone games and bring new ideas to the table too – such as Star Realms Frontiers, which even supports solo and co-operative play!
As well as all of those positives is the fact that the base game of Star Realms is packaged in a box not much thicker than a deck of standard cards, which includes the cleverly designed Authority tracker cards.
So not only is it the perfect pick up and play game for just about any age or experience level, but it is properly portable too.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Star Realms mobile/Steam version is superb – so if you want to play a campaign against AI or remotely against other players, you can do that with ease as well!
2. Dominion (2008)
The game that brought many familiar deck building mechanics to the fore, Dominion is an absolute classic that many players would no doubt place as their favourite deck building game of all time.
In Dominion, you and other players are Monarchs, looking to bring as many new and unclaimed regions of the land under your control as possible.
With 500 cards included just in the base game, Dominion doesn’t lack ambition or scope.
As with many deck building games, Dominion has the feel of a CCG, albeit one where the pool of cards is limited – but still fairly expansive!
That’s without considering the many expansions available to add to the core game.
With a revised second edition having been published in 2016, Dominion is definitely a game that any player interested in deck building needs to check out.
Unlike the base game of Star Realms, you can play with up to four players right out of the box with Dominion too.
Though the theme may not be as exciting as the intergalactic dominance and conflict of something like Star Realms, Dominion’s timeless, brilliant game design really shines.
It’s no wonder that Dominion has earned itself a place so close to the top of the best deck building card games list!
3. Clank!: A Deck Building Adventure (2016)
Billed right there in the title as a deck building adventure, Clank! is more than just a deck building card game, seeing as it incorporates a board too.
In Clank!, players are sneaking into a dragon’s lair to steal the beast’s precious treasure.
In the best deck building tradition, players start off with a simple, small deck and acquire new, more costly and powerful cards as they play, to widen their options and improve their abilities.
There are two goals in a game of Clank!: players are looking to steal an artifact from the dragon and escape from the lair entirely – but also be the player with the most valuable loot at the end of the game!
Cards can have one or more of three functions – Skill, which pays for new cards, Swords to use in combat against the monsters in the lair and Boots, used to move around the board.
Making sound arouses the attention of the dragon, so the aim is to be as quick as possible without being too noisy about it – by avoiding making too many of those titular clanks, especially as the more artifacts are stolen, the angrier the dragon gets!
With an addictive element of pushing your luck, Clank! is a dungeon crawling deck builder that you won’t want to miss.
Should a sci-fi theme be of more interest, you could opt for the amusingly monikered standalone game Clank! In! Space! instead.
There’s even Clank! Legacy – another standalone version of the game – with a persistent, evolving campaign.
Whichever one you opt for, you’ll have a blast with Clank! Just make sure to grab that loot as quietly as you can.
4. Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game (2014)
The first Legendary game – Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game – proved so popular that the deck building series saw numerous spin offs, with some surprising licenses making use of the game engine.
The X-Files, James Bond, Firefly, Buffy and – perhaps most surprisingly – Big Trouble in Little China all got the Legendary treatment, alongside more obvious properties such as various titles based on DC superheroes.
However, for us the most exciting were the titles based on Alien and Predator, which could be combined just as the two franchises have been for decades – since their initial battle in the early 90s in comic book form.
The Alien version is our choice for the best deck building card games list, but that’s partly because we have a huge soft spot for the franchise – and it’s particularly well suited to the Legendary system of deck building action.
That’s because the game is co-operative – to a point – with players working together to scan rooms, kill Xenomorphs and avoid Facehuggers as they try to complete mission objectives.
If you’re wondering what was meant by co-operative ‘to a point’ – well, if a player happens to get infected by a Facehugger, they’ll give birth to a Chestburster and continue the game as a Xenomorph, trying to stop the other players from finishing their mission!
It’s filled with great, comic book style recreations of famous characters, settings and scenes from all four of the original Alien films – there are even expansions covering other entries in the film series too – and really is a superb adaptation of the saga in tabletop form!
5. Star Wars: The Deck Building Game (2023)
Earlier on in this list, I happened to mention just how good our number one choice, Star Realms, is.
So it’s perhaps no surprise to see a Star Wars game taking many cues from the superb Star Realms – and adding some thematic flair of its own.
If you’ve played Star Realms, you’ll be almost immediately at home with Star Wars: The Deck Building Game.
It’s incredibly similar in the way it works, though it does have a light air of asymmetry – with one player taking on the role of the Rebellion and the other as the Empire.
This means that the market row will feature cards that only one side can use – Rebel cards are turned towards the relevant player and likewise for Imperial cards on offer.
There are neutral cards – such as many of the Bounty Hunters – and these can be used by either side.
Interestingly, if a character card is turned towards your opponent – ie if it’s an Empire card and you’re playing as the Rebellion – you have the opportunity to attack and remove it, rather than just attacking your opponent.
Doing so gives you a one time bonus, which varies depending on the general strength of the card you ‘assassinate’.
It’s a smart, very thematic addition – as is the mechanic of destroying a certain number of enemy bases, located on famous planets from the Star Wars saga, to win.
Despite – maybe even because of – its obvious inspiration, Star Wars: The Deck Building Game is a fantastic experience, especially for fans of the franchise.
6. GI Joe: The Deck Building Game (2021)
You’ll soon notice that a number of entries on our best deck building card games list are licensed titles from Renegade Game Studios.
The best of the bunch in our opinion is GI Joe: The Deck Building Game, based on the popular 80s toy line, animated show and comic book.
Though it’s made it to the big screen – twice, with a Snake Eyes spin-off in addition to two GI Joe films – this game most definitely takes inspiration from the original 80s look and feel of the franchise.
Which is no bad thing at all, especially for nostalgic GI Joe fans (who may have been introduced to the saga in the UK under the name Action Force, rather than GI Joe!).
Deeply thematic, GI Joe: The Deck-Building Game is a co-operative game that sees players taking on increasingly challenging story missions to foil the plans of evil organisation, Cobra.
It’s a superb game that has a massive issue: the rule book is absolutely appalling. This means that learning the game is extremely difficult – there’s even a whole set of cards that goes unexplained in the book – and makes it seem a lot more complicated to play than it actually is.
If you can get your head around it – and numerous online resources are available, with helpful fans and even the designers themselves providing much needed rules clarifications – you’ll be rewarded with a great experience that really feels like you’re amassing a team of Joes to take down the bad guys, on missions with a strong narrative feel.
Interestingly, among its many expansions is a Transformers crossover too – so you can even bring Autobots and Decepticons to the battle!
7. Turf War (2022)
Who would have thought that rival neighbours competing to create the most impressive garden would make a good theme for a board game, let alone a deck building game?
Yet here we are with the brilliant Turf War, a pocket-sized deck building game that packs an awful lot of gameplay into its tiny package.
In Turf War, players create a 3×3 grid of undeveloped land, using their initially small selection of cards to create patches of grass, plant flowers and add fancy features to their garden.
The aim of the game is to have the most points once a set number of neighbours have been impressed with the gardens – and there’s some incredibly clever mechanics at play that make Turf War feel genuinely thematic.
For instance, you can work on improving your garden only when you’re at home, but once you use your tools – ie your cards – they must go into your garage.
To earn more money for improving your garden, you’ll need to go to work – and then you can also retrieve your cards when you return home.
The problem is, going to work leaves your garden undefended from your pesky, competitive neighbour – ie the other player – and while you’re away, they can put all manner of nasty stuff in your territory, such as weeds and pesky pests.
Turf War is a genuinely fantastic game that’s easier to pick up and play than it looks – and it feels unlike any other game out there, deck builder or otherwise.
Having just seen its revised second edition released – as well as a great Halloween-themed expansion named Trick or Treat – there’s never been a better time to get yourself involved in a Turf War!
8. Transformers: The Deck Building Game (2021)
The second of Renegade’s Hasbro licensed deck building games to make it onto the best deck building card games list, this Transformers title is a great experience for fans of the classic robots in disguise.
Very much based on the classic, iconic mid-80s Transformers, the deck building game sees players taking on the roles of Autobots exploring and picking up cards to battle the evil Decepticons.
The coolest thing in Transformers – which isn’t new, as it was also a feature of the brilliant, but sadly defunct Transformers Trading Card Game – is that character cards are double sided, allowing them to switch between more movement-based vehicle forms and combat-focused robot modes.
Interestingly, it can be played as either a co-operative or competitive experience – and, just like the other Renegade Deck Building Games on this list, it’s well supported by great expansions that really open up the options for play: including new game modes, new types of Transformers (including Dinobots and Combiners) and even playable Decepticons!
9. Power Rangers: The Deck Building Game (2021)
Yes, here’s another of the Renegade Game Studios deck building games – though they aren’t the very best deck building card games out there, as you can see from their position on this list, they’re all well worth checking out.
Power Rangers: The Deck Building Game is no exception, bringing the cheesy, kaiju-battling hero team to the tabletop in a title that’s sure to please fans and non-fans alike.
A competitive game, Power Rangers: The Deck Building Game is also asymmetrical – with the villains playing differently to the heroes!
Other than that, Power Rangers: The Deck Building game features a lot of elements that’ll be familiar to fans of deck building – with players taking each other on using cards that they’ll add to over the course of the game, purchasing cards from a shared central row.
What’s cool is that the gradual powering up of your deck mirrors the way the characters do the same in the TV show – with the monsters getting bigger and stronger as the Power Rangers themselves team up and combine to take on (and hopefully take down) the bad guys!
Just like the other Renegade games, Power Rangers: The Deck Building Game is well supported with expansions, so there’s plenty of content to keep you busy once you’re looking to bring new elements into the experience!
10. My Little Pony: Adventures in Equestria – The Deck Building Game (2022)
The last entry on our list of the best deck building card games is the surprisingly good My Little Pony: Adventures in Equestria – The Deck Building Game.
Yes, that’s the fourth Renegade Game Studios deck building game to make it onto this list!
Just like GI Joe and the Transformers deck building games, My Little Pony is a co-operative game.
Naturally, it’s an awful lot more colourful and kid-friendly than the other Renegade titles, though they’re also suitable for all ages of course.
Don’t let that cartoony appearance fool you though – true to form for Renegade, this isn’t a lazy cash-in using a lucrative license; My Little Pony: Adventures in Equestria – The Deck Building Game is a thoughtfully designed title.
Players co-operate to complete missions, starting with a deck of ten cards and gradually build up their character specific decks – complete with double sided character cards – using three resources (Help, Info and Move) to purchase new cards.
Much like the other Renegade deck building games based on familiar, nostalgia-laden properties, My Little Pony is brilliantly tailored to the theme and strengths of its source material.
Also, just as GI Joe: The Deck Building Game crosses over with Transformers, My Little Pony is doing the same in an upcoming expansion.
The double sided character cards lend themselves well to Transformers – and it looks like Renegade have done both properties justice with the new crossover.
Check out our Transformers/My Little Pony Deck Building Game news post for more on that upcoming crossover expansion!
