It is time to dive into an age old question, one that I still see a lot of people talking about when they get into board gaming, is a card game a board game? For a lot of people they want to make a distinction between the two of them, a card game is a separate thing than a board game. So how do I fall on the issue?

A card game is a board game!

Let Me Explain

The easy way to talk about this is to talk about sets and subsets. This is a nerdy topic and something that I know well from the math courses I’ve taken and the computer programming I’ve done.

Let’s say that we’re talking about some numbers here, 1, 2, 3, …, 10. So our whole set of numbers is one through ten. In that, I can create a smaller set of numbers, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, so all of the even numbers. Those are evens but they are also still numbers.

This is how it works for board games as well. I have all my board games, Gloomhaven, Ticket to Ride, Uno, Skip-bo, Catan, and Splendor. That is my set, board games. Within board games we have subsets. Ticket to Ride, Catan, and Splendor would fall into a subset of gateway games. Uno and Skip-bo, those are both what type of game, a card game.

Why Not Just Call The Set Games?

Well, we can, we can call the whole set games and then we bring in some other things. Video Games, those are games, Role Playing Games, those are games. And then becomes subsets of what is known as a game. Then, since we’re dealing with mostly analog where there are components needed, I create a subset known as board games.

Now, an RPG is mostly analog and you have things that you need, paper, pencil, dice, so why a separate category for them?

Board Games are a subset separate from an RPG because with a board game you get everything in a self contained box or shipment. In an RPG, I buy stuff separately, I don’t get my dice that I need for the game because I bought a book or put together a character. The pencils don’t come with anything. With a board game I get everything all at once. I don’t have to buy separate trains for Ticket to Ride, I don’t buy a pack of Wild Draw 4’s for Uno. Those all come in the game.

That is why I put card games as a subset of board games and board games as a subset of games.

So Why Is This A Question?

This is a question because I see a lot of new gamers, people who are super excited about board games but will turn up their nose at card games. This goes back to how people limit themselves as gamers. I have talked about that a lot in this article, Why Limit the Board Games You Play.

I won’t touch on everything again from that article, about how elitism in the views of certain types of games can hurt people joining into the hobby, but also hurt yourself from finding great games to play. This is the same here, people who separate the two, they are keeping great games from themselves.

Marvel Champions, a game that is in my Top 10, that game is just cards. That game offers amazing decisions. It gives you challenges to beat the bad guy and to deal with the threats showing up. Building the character is fascinating, and playing the different aspects changes up every superhero. But there is no board. It is a still a board game, but if someone can’t get past that there is no board, they, in my opinion, are missing out on a great game.

So How Do We Counteract This?

Firstly, be willing to try new games or different games. The more that we play all sorts of games with all sorts of people, the more acceptable that card games are board games will become. It also opens up eyes that card games can offer a ton of challenges and there are a ton of options out there.

What we are fighting against, and what people who make the distinction between card games are board games is mainly the people who think of Uno, Skip-bo, or anything with a deck of cards. They think that card games means something that they played as a kid with their Grandma. And those games have a place, but people who want to grow as gamers will often look down on them.

Secondly, refer to all games as board games. It doesn’t matter if it’s Yahtzee with everyone having their own sheet or Skip-Bo with a deck of cards. We want to change the perception, change how we talk about them. The more common the wordage is used, the more common it will be.

Finally, if someone is going to thumb their nose at a game without a board, remember that is their loss. Don’t feel like it is less because they do. Instead, just play the game, enjoy it, and if they want to miss out on a fun time, that is their issue. And if they see people having fun with a “card” game, they will probably start to be more interested in them.

What do you think, is a card game a board game? Is it a subset of that larger group?

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