Collectible card games are among the most addictive and enjoyable gaming experiences to be had on a phone, but they can be off-putting to casual newcomers.
Titles like Hearthstone and Gwent are typical of the genre: widely acclaimed, extremely popular, and utterly impenetrable and unappealing if you’re not a fan of RPGs and fantasy.
That’s why we think CUE Cards could be massive. Developed by UK-based studio Avid Games, this fun, friendly, fact-filled take on the CCG genre has tons of charm and none of the usual CCG genre baggage.
CUE Cards stands for Cards, the Universe and Everything, which is both an overview of what the game covers and a sly reference to Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Life, the Universe, and Everything was the third book in this beloved “trilogy in five parts”).
The game’s cards, of which there are many and counting, contain factoids about the universe. These are broken down into categories such as science, paleontology, space, history, and so on, and they’re delivered in an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek tone.
Your goal in CUE Cards is to win rounds against human opponents by playing the most powerful cards, deploying the best combos, and utilizing the best effects. Your chances of victory are massively increased after you start building decks capable of dealing with every situation.
Cards cover all known phenomena. For instance, you might find yourself playing The Milky Way against Alexander the Great, a tyrannosaurus against the Sphinx, or more prosaically, a baboon against a bear.
And if you’re lucky enough to be holding a shark and a tornado – wallop, you’ve got yourself a sharknado.
There’s a huge number of cards to collect and play, and you can obtain more for free every day through login bonuses and so on. Or you can buy them with real money. Trading is free with other players, and you can merge your unwanted duplicates to craft powerful new cards and combos.
CUE Cards is an engaging, accessible, and uproariously funny addition to the CCG genre. You can try it out for yourself for free right now on Google Play and the App Store.