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55 Famous Failed Card Games
Collectible Card Game History
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Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh! are the big three when it comes to popular and lasting trading card games. While we all may be very familiar with these trading card games at some level, we may not realize how many other card games were discontinued on the way there.
Below is a list of 55 famous trading card games that failed and are currently out of print. There are plenty of examples outside of this list, but the below games demonstrate that even strong IP, a fanbase, and medium-term sustained popularity don’t guarantee success in the long term.
This list is ordered based on the release date (earliest to latest). For this specific list, “failure” is defined as out-of-print/discontinued. It can be argued that many of these games were successful for a set period of time, and brought many players joy, but compared to the Big Three referenced above, these games fall short of their comparable marks.
Let’s dive in!
(1) Spellfire: Master the Magic
Initial Release: April 1994
Discontinued: 1997
Spellfire: Master the Magic was created by TSR (Tactical Strategy Rules), Inc, the same company responsible for creating the popular Dungeons and Dragons trading card game (also released in April 1994).
It was released shortly after the official first modern trading card game, Magic: The Gathering (August 5th, 1993), which sparked the creation of a modern trading card game market.
The game even incorporated the realm settings from Dungeons and Dragons and you can learn more about the gameplay in detail here.
