Last month we really enjoyed the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links mobile card game, and so it seems like a good time to have a look about how card games have evolved over the years.

Most of us will have been introduced to card games as a child, and whether it was playing a simple card game like Snap or even kid-friendly games like Go Fish, it all showed how much fun you could have with a simple pack of cards.

When we reached our adult lives, it seems that our card games grew up with us. As well as gambling card games like poker, anybody who’s had a desktop PC will have killed a few lazy afternoons by playing the computer version of Solitaire.

It’s been interesting to see how many other centuries-old card games have made the adaptation to our digital technology. Whilst the likes of Baccarat has been around since the 19th century in France, it’s only fairly recently that it’s enjoyed a digital upgrade thanks to the CasinoEuro gaming site that also does a good job of updating other classic gambling games like blackjack and stud poker.

However, it’s the collectable card video game genre that’s really taken off in recent years. These emerged in the 1990s with the likes of Magic: The Gathering that caused a huge craze for people to trade and collect cards in order to take part in the complex strategy gameplay.

Of course, it wasn’t long before video games makers took notice, and we now have reached the point where many of the world’s top gaming apps will feature a healthy collectable card gameplay influence.

Titles like Hearthstone have enjoyed massive success as it’s taken much of the World of Warcraft phenomenon and helped make collectable card games one of the surprise breakthroughs in the eSports realm.

Such is the success of these collectable card games that they now often get tagged onto many popular pre-existing video games franchises. As a result we see the likes of the Gwent card game becoming an integral part of The Witcher universe in a way that shows how card games can even exist inside fictional and virtual universes.

So whether it’s a lonely game of solitaire, a fun game of baccarat, or the latest eSports phenomenon, we can expect to see plenty of card games in the future!