Playing and Collecting Out-of-Print Card Games

Since the introduction of Magic the Gathering, dozens of other games entered the CCG space, each hoping to take a piece of the market. This was especially true in the ’90s, when there seemed to be a new game premiering every month. Sadly, not all games found lasting success, with many cancelled after a single release. Fortunately, even when a game loses official support, it is still enjoyable to collect and play. To a degree, they have advantages over currently produced games.

Playing a “dead game” is different from playing an in-production CCG or a LCG, although there are similarities to both. You don’t have to keep up with an aggressive release schedule, and can buy product at your own pace. However, if you buy only sealed product, you will still be relying on random chance of the cards you receive. Of course, buying only singles or collections will mitigate this. Another consideration is finding product to buy. Many shops will not use space for unsupported games. There are vendors that specialize in these products though, and sites like eBay can be useful as well.

Another consideration is how active the fan community is. Fan sites exist for almost every game, and not to mention subreddits or Facebook groups. BGG can be a good resource for finding these sites. Occasionally these spaces create unofficial content, or even official expansions, such as with Rage. There will also be information about how to find people to play against, and likely leads on where to buy cards for the game. If you use physical cards, sleeves and a sturdy deck case are the minimums. If you have decks for several games, a Prime X4 Gaming Box will be handy, especially if those games require dice or markers, like Warlord, Magi-Nation, or 7th Sea.

Collecting a dead game is no different from collecting something currently produced. A number of boxes to fit the size of your collection will be enough, although upgrading to a 3200 Collectible Card Bin may be appropriate, especially if it’s a game that has retained much of its value. Some games are larger than normal cards, and will require special storage considerations. Sim City: The Card Game cards uses tarot sized cards and will need Tarot Sleeves and a larger box.

For the Transformers Card Game, there are a number of options for the character cards. The Prime X4 will hold the double-sized character cards with the partitions removed, unfortunately there is not a good box for the titan-sized characters. If you prefer to use a binder, 4-Pocket Photo Pages work well, The largest character cards will use Comic Pages.

Playing and collecting a dead game can be fun and rewarding. As the game lacks a metagame to define what is in demand, prices tend to remain stable. If you only want to play, hunting singles is an experience not easily replicated with other games. In either case, a focus on dead games can give a new experience regardless of how much you want to play or collect.

What’s your favorite dead game? Let us know below.