Boosters Breakdown: The phsychology of Trading card games, Why is it addictive to collect and trade?

What makes Hearthstone and other Card games so addictive? What's the psychological appeal of games like Hearthstone, Magic, Yugioh and Pokemon?

these games seem to have something for everyone. I remember days at school everyone on the playground from all walks of life would be involved in the card games. especially yugioh and pokemon

Lets look at some of the things that make these genres appealing-

Story and Narrative

- The best trading card games are huge worlds with many different things locations and species to learn about. This usually gives context to the strategy and gameplay rules

immersion

-- slightly touching on narrative, the games are usually focused around a hero and so there is an environment of escapism for the player. I felt like I was really calling out my pokemon to battle for me so i could be the best!

Chance

-- thought these games are strategic there is a level of uncertainty and chance that make it exciting and even more immersive. a little like the electric floor experiments and uncertainty of rewards phsychology

Strategy

-- That "I am the very best!" moment when you compile the perfect deck. planning and executing the perfect combos, and watch as your statistical genius kick ass

Mastery

-- ofcourse with so many things to learn and variables that can affect the gameplay its no wonder there is a skill that is constantly being built which is rewarding in and of itself.

Collection/growth

-- this is the more physical side of mastery, its the being able to see your collection grow. each item you add to the collection increases the value of every other piece in the collection and the large mass is so grand to behold

Competition

-- Survival of the fittest, Best man wins, Alpha dominance whatever we wanna call it, beating someone in a competitive game helps us feel that emotion, and sometimes its so good to see your opponents face when you pull off that masterful combo and flip the game

Exploration

-- As updates become available you learn more about the world and the characters that inhabit it.

Co-operation

-- this could be in the form of helping eachother build decks, plan strategies or teaching of story and feedback. even in non co-operative games there tends to be some form of community growing and coming together helping each individual become better and giving other opportunities for those players to add value, i.e tutorials for beginners as a form of social service and gratitude

Status

-- Ofcourse just like the value of the the collection rising with each piece, so too does the value of the community rise with each new player, And there is nothing like being on the top of that ladder xD

What do you think of my breakdown? Have I missed something? What's your favourite part of trading card games?

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