Best card games for Android 2022

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For some, the best card games are the best way to relax. Killing time on your morning commute or playing cards at the end of your day can now be done on your phone. You can play solo games, connect with friends or random online opponents, or play fantasy card games.

Some of our favorites are now available on the phone. We have the best Android games when you're done here.

A small team of Magic: The Gathering tournament winners designed a deck-building game called Ascension. You can play the game on your phone if you choose to. You have to spend money to acquire more powerful cards in order to defeat monsters and earn Honor Points.

If you pick up this game, you'll end up spending money in-game if you decide to. Each expansion costs around $3. I don't have a problem with this, but thanks to Hearthstone, this is how things work.

Ascension is a card game that I like to play on my phone. It's addictive since I was a player back in my youth. If you like Magic, you might like Ascension.

Ascension requires you to collect cards to defeat monsters. It's addicting.

The game is called Card Thief. You are playing a game in which a thief must sneak their way through a deck of cards to steal treasure. You can use equipment cards to assist you in your thieving ways, but don't get too confident, or you'll run out of sneak points and get caught.

You will do things like pickpocket guards and extinguishing torches. It's an easy game to pick up and learn, and each game takes only a couple of minutes to complete. If you're looking for something similar, it plays like Solitaire.

Card Thief has a progression system that lets you upgrade equipment cards as you pull off heists. It's a rewarding game for fans of strategy card games because of the steep learning curve.

Card Thief is a card game for stealth fans. There is a steep learning curve to master a game that is only a few minutes long.

You can find it in the Play Store.

You can play online anytime with this unofficial mobile version of Apples to Apples. Each game should be hilarious because there are over 5,000 answer cards and 1,300 question cards. You can join random games against strangers or connect with friends over the internet.

You can add your own custom text with the wild cards. You can earn in-app currency by winning games, but you can also purchase expansion decks with it. Nice!

The Cards Against Humanity, Evil Apples, is an unofficial card game. There are a lot of options.

Matthew Inman is the creator of Exploding Kittens. The goal of the game is to force your opponents to draw cards. They are eliminated from the game if they cannot play a defuse card to eliminate the threat. Sounds crazy, right? It's more like fun.

The Play Store listing says it's "kitty-powered Russian Roulette." The mobile version of the game has great artwork on each card and amazing animations. You can play with friends or strangers. There are no ads that distract you.

It's a straight-up premium title and there are optional in-app purchases. It's a lot of fun and worth a lot of laughs.

Exploding Kittens is about getting other people to draw a card. They'll lose if they don't have a card. It's great, but it sounds weird.

You can find it in the Play Store.

You can play Gin Rummy on the go against different levels of opponents. I remember playing this card game when I was a kid. I highly recommend this game, it runs beautifully on any device.

I want to shine a light on the app developer, which offers 14 well-designed mobile versions of classic card and board games. You can either pay $2 for an ad-free experience or play an ad-supported version of Euchre. Chess, Backgammon, and Go are also offered.

It's easy to pick up Gin Rummy and it's fun. The app offers three different decks and automatic deck sorting. You can also use an undo option and get a few hints along the way. There's an ad-supported free version.

Pick up a classic card game and play it against the artificial intelligence. You get my point, but it's more light-hearted than that.

If you've read any of my other posts, you know this was coming. Gwent is my favorite card game because I'm a huge fan of The Witcher universe. Gwent was a mini-game in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but now that it's on the phone, I can't wait to play it again.

Gwent has different decks with different abilities and weaknesses. You don't have a health pool to deplete. The goal is to get the most points at the end of the round. The player who wins two games is the winner. You can earn points by playing cards.

There's more to it than that. You can destroy your opponent's cards to deplete their point pool. They can do the same thing to you. I'm fond of taking a loss to preserve your deck for the next round.

Gwent is free with in-app purchases. You have a huge pool of players to pit yourself against.

It was a minigame in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Gwent is a must-play game for any Witcher fan.

It needs little introduction. It's a popular card-battling game set in the World of Warcraft universe that ushered in the free-to-play online digital collectible card game genre. It's been doing well, and there have been many expansion packs released, so it might feel a bit overwhelming for new players.

It's a 1v1 game where the goal is to get rid of your opponent's health pool before you do. The cards in your deck help you achieve victory or defend yourself. The game is open to some wild strategies.

You can start for free and play through the levels to see if it's a good fit for you, but you have to spend a bit of money to build your deck. It's not for everyone, but I have spent a lot of time in this game.

If you've heard of it, you know it will be on this list. It's a card game where you face off against another opponent to see who can survive.

It was bound to be a big competitor for Hearthstone. This card game is set in the League of Legends universe and functions the same as Hearthstone. It's a 1v1 game where your goal is to deplete your opponent's health pool.

Each player gets an attack and a defense round, instead of just one turn. Many cards have special abilities and have their own attack and health stat. Some spell cards are instant, others take a turn or two. These can be healing spells, barrier spells, and so on.

If you're tired of Hearthstone, then you should give the game a try. It's also centered around microtransactions which get tiring. That's how it goes.

If you enjoy both League of Legends and Hearthstone, then you should be interested in the other one.

Magic: the Gathering is one of the most popular card games of all time and is having a renaissance thanks to the digital world. Magic: the Gathering is a card game where players take on the role of a Planeswalker and battle it out with other players by casting spells, using artifacts and equipment, and summon creatures big and small from their individual decks. A player reduces their opponent's life total to 0.

There are many fantasy and mythological themes in the cards in Magic: the Gathering. All of this action is brought to life by gorgeous graphics, vibrant animations, and great sound design. It's an excellent place for new players to try out Magic since the built-in levels introduce the game's core concepts and mechanics.

The free-to-play title has in-app purchases for things like booster packs, just like you would buy in real life. There's nothing to stop you from trying it today.

Magic: the Gathering Arena brings the beloved collectible card game to mobile devices. You can collect cards, build your decks, and compete in casual or competitive modes.

Microsoft made Solitare a household name by including it in every version of Windows. The Microsoft Solitaire Collection includes the classic Klondike version, as well as Free Cell, Spider, Tri Peaks, and Pyramid. Sure brings you back?

It's a free game with ads and the option to pay a monthly or yearly subscription to remove them. There are daily challenges that you can complete to help the game stay fresh, and you can link your Xbox Live account to earn achievements and compete against your friends and family.

Anyone who grew up with Solitaire should enjoy this game. I wish it didn't require a subscription to remove the ads, but it's also typical of Microsoft.

The "casual gaming" of the '90s and '00s was defined by classic titles such as Minesweeper. Solitaire is available on the phone.

Nova Island is a free-to-play deck builder that is exclusive to mobile devices. Nova Island makes new cards purchasable solely through in-game currency obtained by playing. Some of the cards are very expensive, so you'll have to win a lot to afford them, but for the most part, you can still form solid decks without too many high-tier cards.

The interface is simple and user-friendly, the graphics are excellent with bright, poppy colors, and the soundtrack and audio effects bring the whole thing to life. The game is fun, with each player commanding a deck trainer who has a set of special moves that ideally combo well with your remaining custom-built deck. Entry-level players can have fun playing through single-player modes if they combine effects and cards for optimal synergies.

There's still a chance that the game will add features like a friend list and local battling in the future. Some players find the random aspects of battles frustrating, but I always have a great time playing. It's free, it's beautiful, and it's gaining popularity all the time. So now play Nova Island?

Nova Island is easy to learn and difficult to master.

In the game, you play as a monarch and make decisions that affect four aspects of the kingdom: the church, the people, the army, and the royal wealth. If any meter fills to the max or is completely empty, your reign is over, and a new one begins.

You're playing as Queens instead of Kings in Her Majesty, a sequel that plays nearly identically to the original game. There are a lot of new characters to interact with.

Her Majesty has a lot of replayability. You can keep your reign going as long as you want, because there's an inventory system and challenges to keep you interested. I encourage you to check it out, it's a silly and fun game.

The sequel to the great Reigns is called, "Reigns: Her Majesty switches things up with Queens this time." Make your rule last as long as possible.

In my opinion, the deck builder, Shards of Infinite, is a beautiful card game with a cool premise. You earn cards as you go and make the best of the situation. Not every game will be the same, which is something you want in a game like this.

The goal is to be the last one standing. There is a lot of complexity behind the game. You can either play mercenary cards that do their job and bail, or you can play cards in four different groups. The games last about half an hour.

There is an online mode for solo play and a local mode for online play in the Android version. If you like deck builders, it's worth the asking price.

It feels like a sequel to Ascension. It has a cool premise and is a quick play.

You can find it in the Play Store.

Shelter Free is a combination of castle defense strategy and deck-building card games. When you wake up, the world is overrun with zombies, and you have to fight them off to get out of the danger zone. You move through obstacles, seek cards to strengthen your deck, and battle zombies with equally powerful card decks.

The artwork style is enough to keep you coming back for more, but the storyline and intense card battles will keep you hooked. You can learn to master the game in a few hours, but it's an easy game to pick up.

Survive the zombie apocalypse in this game. For many hours to come, enjoy the simple yet complex game.

If you missed the boat on one of the best card-based games released in the past few years, I am happy to introduce you to Slay the Spire. A deck-building roguelike, Slay the Spire gives you a bunch of playable characters with different specialties and an ever-changing spire to pit yourself against.

Your goal is to work your way up the Spire and defeat all the enemies you come across. You build out your deck with basic attack and defense cards and more specialized ones that can dole out buff, de-buffs, and more. Winning battles will reward you with new cards, but it's important to weigh each card in your deck carefully to maintain a winning balance.

You will come across powerful relics that can aid you in your trials, but don't count on getting the same relics each time. The spire layout changes with each new run, as well as the order and type of enemies you'll encounter, and where you might find relics. Failure and experimentation are key pieces of the puzzle, so expect to die a lot and try again many times over. That is part of the fun.

The premium price for Slay the Spire is $9.99. The title is well worth your time and money, though, and ten bucks is a small price to pay, weighed against the hundreds of hours you can end up spending in this fantastic game.

Take down the entire spire with a deck of vicious cards.

You can find it in the Play Store.

The name of the game is simplicity. The premise is easy to understand, the game is easy to play, and there's plenty of room for anyone who enjoys deckbuilding games to have fun. Star Realms has been out for a while, but it's my favorite card game on the phone.

Each player starts the game with a single money card and an attack card. You can either use your money to attack your opponent or buy another card from your deck. Later on, you can get armor to bolster your health pool.

Star Realms is easy to play but has some hidden complexity. There are things you can't do in the physical game that are available in the Android port. The full version gives you the ability to play against other players, battle different artificial intelligence difficulties, and play online against other players. There is more than one metric ton of additional content you can purchase.

The deck builder is easy to learn and has a lot of stealthy complexity. If you like the full version, you should buy it.

I'm pretty sure millions of families had a game night staple like Uno! At this point, it's a cultural icon. Crazy Eights rules state that your goal is to get rid of all your cards by playing the same color or suit as the last card played.

You can play with friends in the Fun Room, connect and play with custom house rules, and more in the mobile version of Uno! Dumb leveling mechanics, in-game currencies, and microtransactions are known as the bane of any good mobile game.

It doesn't stop the show from being fun, especially for a quick round or two. There's a 2v2 mode where you can take down another pair with a friend. You can join tournaments to show off your skills. You can shout "UNO" when you're about to win.

A new version of the cultural icon is available on a mobile device. It's still a great time if you grew up playing the original game.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is an older game. Duel Links is holding up well in today's landscape. I never held much hope for it, but I was proven wrong. The card game's monetization is typical, but it's not bad.

I have fond memories of Yu-Gi-Oh, it was my gateway to Magic: The Gathering when I was a kid. The spirit of playing with paper cards is captured by Duel Links.

Pick your cards, build your decks, and defeat your opponents. I think Yu-Gi-Oh fans will find a lot to love about Duel Links.

You can play these games on your phone. I can't recommend games that are designed to hook you in and get you spending for fake in-app currency, so I don't recommend them. If you're still interested, they're easy to find and a dime a dozen in the Play Store.

Gwent is my top pick because I was familiar with the game's mechanics from hours spent with The Witcher 3's minigame. I have installed a lot of good games on my phone, and this is one of them.

I like Exploding Kittens and Ascension. The latter is a great game that will always be on my phone. It's affordable and won't bother you with ads or offers to spend on in-app purchases. Ascension is addicting, but it skews toward pushing microtransactions on you.

Nova Island was added to our list.

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