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With Father’s Day looming at the end of this week, you may have probably already read plenty of contents on games that can be played together to celebrate the occasion. It is always great to see families play boardgames all together and to catch opportunities like Father's Day to bring a new game to the table but fewer people talk about the special bond that Fathers can create when playing Trading Card Games with their Children.
Personally, I think TCGs are amazing and I loved playing them for many many years. They offer a full experience that includes the excitement of opening new packs, the fun of getting new cards and the thrill of challenging your opponent for a chance to win the game. Considering how much I love these games and how much I enjoy talking about them, I think it was just a matter of time before my son started to show interest in Trading Card Games. As the caring father I am, I was obviously there to address his curiosity and to help him taking his first steps into this amazing hobby. In return, I found that playing Trading Cards Games together with my son was an amazing opportunity to have a lot of fun together and to do something that is only for the two of us.
Speaking to other TGC enthusiasts within Zatu bloggers, I realized that there are a lot of players that had very similar experience and therefore we decided to catch the opportunity to see which games we have been playing with our children and why. We hope the below will give you some interesting ideas for your Father's day celebrations and presents although I would like to remind the below is not intended as an exhaustive list as there are plenty of amazing Trading Cards Games suitable for all ages to try.
Disney Lorcana, Deep Trouble – Sam De Smith
My eldest is a huge Disney Lorcana fan, it’s the TCG that’s really caught his imagination (it’s replacing Lego and Transformers as the primary expenditure in his life), but the prospect of co-op version piqued both our interests.
I am a huge fan of Little Mermaid (when I worked in a cinema, I even went to see it on my day off) and Ursula decks are my jam, so the chance to face of against her in an almost board game environment really made this a winner. It’s a self-contained product, with Ursula run as a very efficient and effective AI deck (not compatible with the main game though), whilst you as players get two new decks that are not only chock-full of really powerful and sought after cards (Legendary Piglet anyone?) but viable in their own right outside of the set – it includes a fully-stocked Magic Broom deck with the new sorcerer, Yen Sid, and Apprentice Mickey.
The challenge level is scalable, with 4 difficulty levels included, making it also a totally accessible product for younger players/families (and it can be played 1-4 player also), and comes with an exciting mystery foiled sealed prize if you defeat Ursula! And for experienced gamers, the challenge of building decks to beat the higher difficulties will leave you in a cold sweat. It’s great for getting you thinking about forgotten cards, weird combos and generating a team dynamic of complementary decks. A great buy for the Disney dad in your life!!
Pokemon - Rob Wright
My Pokemon journey began thanks to ‘good fatherly intentions’ – honest. Back in 2015 (I think) both my sons decided to get into Pokemon cards, and, though I thought that it was nice that they were sharing an interest, I also thought, “they’re liable to kill each other over it.” So, I decided, in the name of diplomacy, to get myself a starter deck (the Lugia XY Fates Collide deck) and learn the game so I could act as a playable buffer between the two of them.
Nine years and many, many cards later, I am still trying (and failing) to catch them all, despite the fact that both of my boys have moved onto other things (though my youngest son still accompanies me to pre-releases for quality father-son time – my older son accompanies me to the pub for similar reasons). I would not have changed a thing, though, because we had some great times.
Pokemon was a bit less accessible for beginners as a game back in 2015, but there are a lot more ways in now, and products are graded from one to three so you know which are suitable for beginners (one), journeymen (two) and experienced (three) players.
Pokemon starter decks are still available in the form of Battle Decks, and each of these will contain one ex or V card, depending on when the deck was released. But better than buying two or three of these (and better value too) is buying one of the Battle Academy sets. There are two currently available, but a new Battle Academy is due out at the end of June. Each set contains damage counters, a flipping coin, a very nice playing board (at least there has been in previous sets) and three ready made decks with playing guides for each of them. It’s a great introduction to the game and won’t break the bank. Not at first, anyway…
Star Wars Unlimited - Sam De Smith
I am your Father’s Day... gift. No? I find your lack of faith disturbing. Right, I’ll stop that. Anyway, if you’re stuck, then the starter set for Star Wars Unlimited is a great way into the game but also holds its own as a stand alone game (although fair warning, to the Dark Side it leads).
Thematically, it’s very on-brand for Father’s Day, as you bring Luke and Vader to the table to battle it out, whilst introducing you to all of the game’s core mechanics. In the Luke deck, you get to explore Vigiliance (Blue) with its emphasis on protection – generating shields (damage prevention) and protecting your base through the Sentinel mechanic – and Cunning (Yellow) with its sneaky Tricks, Han shooting first of (course) and manipulation of costs with Leia, plus some deck manipulation with fixed cards of R2 and Threepio, and mighty upgrades in the form of Luke’s lightsabre. Vader, meanwhile, is a green machine, Command being the colour of boosting abilities, extra orders and bonus resources, fleshed out with the might of red Aggression, the emperor, legions of stormtroopers and waves of TIEs. It feels unfailingly like a scrappy underdog skirmishing against impossible odds, whilst being a fast, streamlined and incredibly intuitive game. Do it!
Disney Lorcana – Stefano Paravisi
Since he was quite young, my son has been very passionate about Pokemon although he was more interesting in collecting the cards than playing with them. The very first TCGs we actually played consistently together have been Yu-Gi-Oh! first and then Digimon. In both cases, he started by watching the anime series and then he had to try the real life experience of being a Duellist or a Digi-Destined.
The experience of playing competitively and meeting a lot of different players was quite positive for him and we enjoyed these games for almost a year before we heard about Disney Lorcana. At first, my son and I were not completely sure Disney Lorcana would be a game for us but we were very temped by the idea of starting a TCG from the very beginning. In addition, there was the strong nostalgia of playing with our beloved Disney characters thus we decided to give it a try. One year after its first release, I am happy we took the chance as we play Disney Lorcana weekly and we are both still very passionate about it.
There are a few main aspects that make Disney Lorcana a very good game to enjoy with your children. First, the game is quite easy to learn but it is also quite strategic providing a good level of challenge to both adult and younger players. Most importantly, it is easy to create decks to suit anyone playing styles or level of experience and you can efficiently use them in both casual and competitive games.
In addition, Ravensburger has tried since the very beginning to promote local communities and players by creating the Lorcana League. In this format, players can earn promo cards and prizes through casual games disregarding if they win or they lose; there is also no need to play every week so everyone can enjoy sharing time with their local game group without any pressure. For those interested in bigger challenges, there are also a range of competitive events including regional Challenges and Global Championship providing again something that can satisfy everyone's taste. Overall, Disney Lorcana can be a great gift for Father's day that can also lead to a great and long-lasting shared experience!!
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