Card Games have been around for decades. Aside from the most known card games out there such as Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, many card games showed up and disappeared on this Earth. Although currently those three completely dominated the market, from time to time we see a new card game show up.
However, most people did not ever hear about most that perish as silently as they were born. Some of those were too short-lived to even be remembered. There were bad attempts, overcomplicated games, cash-grabs, and even innovative games with original mechanics that just failed to attract players.
10 Android: Netrunner
Set in the world of Cyberpunk 2020, the same one that originated Cyberpunk 2077, Android: Netrunner was a collectible card game. Now sold-out and without a relaunch in sight, Net-Runner became a rarity, but also a dead game.
This card game was designed by Richard Garfield -- creator of Magic: The Gathering, and published by Wizards of the Coast. Sadly, even though it was a very well-received game, it ended up being discontinued. Android: Netrunner was played online for a while via CCG Workshop, but Wizards of the Coast shut it down.
9 Spellfire
Way before Wizards of the Coast owned Dungeons & Dragons, TSR wanted to compete against the giant of the market, Magic: The Gathering. In order to do so, they decided to come up with a card game that had characters and locations common to those who played their most famous RPG.
Spellfire features characters and locations from Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, and the Greyhawk settings. Spellfire had four editions but was eventually discontinued. Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR later and announced a re-release, but the project was canceled.
8 Marvel Battle Scenes
This Brazilian card game had a very interesting concept. It featured battles of Marvel Characters during interesting events that would be triggered by cards. The hero cards had a number of hit points, or Energy, that would also determine how many power cards they'd have. Power cards could be used by heroes if that hero also had that type of power.
In addition to all that, event cards would trigger events that allowed players to do special plays. For instance, "Call For Back Up" was a card that would allow players to check their deck for a hero card, while "Secret Invasion" would allow a player to use the same hero that their adversary is using.
7 Might & Magic: Duel of Champions
This was a very promising free-to-play online game. It was a trading card game available on Steam, iPad Appstore, and on the game's website. This game featured amazing art and a very original set of rules. The creatures and heroes were all from the acclaimed Heroes of Might & Magic series. The game had 7 factions, each with unique playstyles.
Unfortunately, the game was shutdown. The game did not achieve the needed success to be considered viable and. Unlike other cards that can last forever without newer editions, players were basically forced to forget about the short-lived card game. Since the game only existed online and it was shut down, there is no way to play it anymore.
6 Beyblade
Many consider this to be just a dead cash-grab. This card game was envisioned as an easy to learn card game for kids. This turned out not to be the best approach, in the end. Kids were not very interested in the card game, and card game players were not interested in the simplistic playstyle of Beyblade.
The game had one set released with 130 new cards, including 10 new blade cards. The game was dead not long after, though. It is still possible to play it online via LackeyCCG, though. Maybe the setting of the game was one of the things that hindered it. Unlike Yu-Gi-Oh's charming setting that gave us many funny cards.
5 Monsuno
The Monsuno card game was based on the television series Monsuno: World Masters. It was a cartoon about fantastic creatures which were created due to some substance that fell on Earth via a meteor. The trading card game adaptation of the series was launched back in 2012.
Generally speaking, people do not even remember the show. This makes it especially hard to remember a card game that died so long ago. In fact, it is really hard to find people who used to play this game. It might not have been one of the weirdest card games of its decade, but it only makes Monsuno less memorable.
4 Initial D
This took many people by surprise. Accustomed to the usual battle themes in Trading Card Games, this was a very different idea. Turning a racing game into a Card Game was on its own, a gimmick. It might have attracted people who were curious about how the game plays, but it was not enough to keep Initial D alive.
The game had four types of cards. It had cards for cars, mods, races, and maneuver cards. The game was weirdly structured, being maneuver cards the only ones in the deck. The race cards felt pointless since only one was used of all race cards the players had in a match.
3 James Bond 007
Not only people don't remember that most trading card game players today will not even be old enough to remember James Bond 007. This was a collectible card game by Target Games and Heartbreaker Hobbies. It was released back in 1995. Back then, there was a trend of Trading Card Games that were based on a movie or TV series.
James Bond 007's single set, named Goldeneye, received mixed reviews. The lack of success caused its next set, Villains and Women, to never be released.
2 Hyborian Gates
This is a complex card game that consists of a war for dimensional gates. The set of rules is considered to be one of the hardest ones to get a hold of. The game can be played with multiple players. If only two people are playing, the one who controls five of the six dimensions is the winner.
Hyborian Gates was launched with 450 collectible cards. Like many other games of that era, it had an expansion planned for the next year, but it was never launched.
1 Heresy: Kingdom Come
This should have been a memorable game from the 90s, but it followed the trend of most card games that were launched in 1995. Heresy: Kingdom Come was a Trading Card Game with an original set on its decade. The idea was to make it about an all-out war between heaven and hell in a cyberpunk world.
This game aggressively belongs to its decade. The game was well-received by those who played it and it was considered innovative. However, it failed to sell enough to remain viable and therefore was canceled before launching more cards.