A deck-building game is a genre that started out in the board gaming scene. However, it has transcended from the table to video games. However, the genre can be kind of confusing. Although, this short article should clear up some confusion.
What counts as a deck-building game?
Deckbuilding is essentially a game where a significant element of the game is the creation of a deck. This is different than a “deck construction” game which typically has a deck created before the game start.
In a deckbuilding game, each player typically starts with the deck. However, during the game, players will have the opportunity to buy cards in their deck.
However, you are at the mercy of the “market” which cards are purchased from. This creates a more emergent card game experience, as opposed to TCG/CCG where the decks are pre-made.
One of the core elements of deck-building games is that you shuffle your discard pile once you deck out. This incentivizes players to build a consistent “engine” optimized to gain whatever points the game has.
The mechanics have a lot of variances, and when you enter into video games it starts to vary quite a bit. If you want to understand how a deckbuilding game might play on your own before bringing it to the table then I recommend Slay the Spire.
What is the first deck-building game?
This is a complicated question, as history is somewhat spotty. Dominion is often considered the first deck-building game. At least, it can be said that Dominion is the first game to really start the deck-building craze.
However, the title might actually go to Starcraft: The Board Game which came out a year before Dominion. Despite this, Dominion was actually in development before the game was released. It really is a case of two similar concepts coming out independently.
What is a good Deck-Building game to start off with?
It really is depending on what is the weight of the game you want. However, these are all good general starting points
Dominion
Dominion is a classic game and is probably the most famous deckbuilding game ever. The goal is to gain victory points by creating the most efficient deck from cards on the market. The flavor is based around a king building a dominion.
If you find out that you like the game it has a wide variety of expansions, so if it starts to get old you can always at a new one to spice it up. Without that the game still has plenty of variety from the cards in the base game.
Star Realms
Star realms is a sci-fi-focused deckbuilding game. However, the difference is that this game has an element of combat, as the goal is to destroy other ships.
This game is a perfect starter as it is a cheap game to try out the genre. It is also very quick and can be finished in around 20 minutes which is pretty short for this genre. Also, the weight of gameplay is manageable for new players.