The best mobile card games 2025

Are you looking for the best mobile card games? You’re in the right place. This list has only the creme of the crop of deck-building wonders, from solo experiences to intense multiplayer battlers, and everything in between. All you need to do is pick a game and get to playing.

For more top-tier lists, see our picks for the best mobile strategy games, the best mobile MMORPGs, the best mobile shooters, and the best mobile horror games. Or, if you want to go a little more old school, our sister site Wargamer has a list of the best board games and the best card games.

Here are the best mobile card games:

Balatro

There’s a good reason that Balatro is one of our favorite card games – one that has plagued the PocketTactics team’s productivity since it launched in 2024. Balatro follows Poker card rules, allowing you to earn points for more complex hands, but as the game gets increasingly difficult, you’ll have to use random Jokers in order to gain more points, or risk going back to square one.

As one of the best roguelite games available, Balatro’s simple-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay loop will hook you for hours on end. And with plenty of decks to unlock and complete, you’ll have plenty of content to enjoy. And if that doesn’t sell you, Balatro was the Mobile Game of the Year for The Game Awards 2024.

Play Balatro on Apple Arcade now.

Slay the Spire

Balatro owes a lot of its success to Slay the Spire, one of the biggest and most successful card roguelites available. While Balatro delivers on a simple, unique premise, Slay the Spire’s focus is on a dungeon-crawling adventure that puts a spotlight on battling opponents as opposed to earning a high score.

Filled with random events that will make or break your current one, Slay the Spire remains a remarkable card game that deserves the praise it receives. It’s easy to learn Slay the Spire’s rules, but it’ll slowly become more challenging, as you progress through the tower and become hooked on this fantasy world.

Play Slay the Spire on Apple Arcade now.

Magic: The Gathering Arena

Of course, we can’t let this list slip by without an entry from one of the biggest names in tabletop and digital collectible card games. Magic: The Gathering has taken the world by storm, and you can consider Magic: The Gathering Arena as your gateway into its vast, engaging world. Don’t worry if you’re new to magic – the tutorial and AI practice matches will help you get a grasp on this card-wielding phenomenon. With 15 unique decks, multiple playstyles, immersive lore, and plenty of customization, this game is full of mystical goodness.

Marvel Snap

With some of the team from Hearthstone working on Marvel Snap, it was always going to be good fun, but as we found out in our Marvel Snap review in 2022, it’s much more than just that. Few games master the “one more match” feeling like Marvel Snap, with a few minutes easily turning into hours as you battle your opponent to take the most locations.

With the superpowered card game being such an instant hit, we’ve got plenty of content to help you get on your feet and maybe even fly into platinum rank. Be sure to check out our Marvel Snap decks and Marvel Snap tier list for all the best builds, or our Marvel Snap gold guide to help you earn some extra moolah.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

The closest that we’re ever going to get to an honest-to-god Kaibacorp dueling simulator, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is the only way to play the game in its classic format in this day and age. With a massive card catalog, regular tournaments highlighting different builds, and a community of lifelong players, this is one for the hardcore duellists.

If you don’t want to rely on the heart of the cards and instead would prefer to brush up on your dueling skills, we’re on hand. Check out our Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel meta decks guide to see what’s popping in the current format, or if you just want to take it old school, see our Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Blue-Eyes deck build.

Clash Royale

The ever-expanding Clash universe includes its very own card game, Clash Royale, full of some of the series’ most famous characters in rectangular form. There’s still the influence of some Clash of Clans strategy goodness, mixed in with the deck-building, tower defense, and arena mechanics. It’s a pretty unique title, and well worth including in our list of the best mobile card games.

If you want to give this one a try yourself, be sure to take a look at our Clash Royale download guide, before jumping into battle with one of the sets suggested by our Clash Royale Decks. We’ve also got some Clash Royale wallpaper, if you never want to take your eyes off the green pastures of the Clash Kingdom.

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

It took its sweet time, but the official spin-off of Gwent, the Witcher 3 card game, is now on both Android and iOS. It’s quite different from what it was like at launch and it’s gone through several updates and revisions, meaning that we mobile jockeys get a game that’s tight and quite unique compared to some of its contemporaries. It’s a power struggle between two people, but it’s less about pounding each other’s cards into dust or attacking life points – it’s simply a best-out-of-three bout to have a bigger number than your opponent at the end of the round.

This simple concept can inspire a surprising amount of cunning and card combos, with card advantage being a very important concept. As a free-to-play game, there are IAPS and micro-transactions, but it’s very tame and you can still get access to cards through gameplay. If you want some tips to up your game, have a look at our Gwent guide.

Legends of Runeterra

Considered by many as Riot Game’s challenge to Hearthstone’s supremacy over the mobile deck builder genre, Legends of Runeterra changes up the formula just enough. Using a new spell system for excess mana, and featuring attack, and block phases, the tactical depth of the game outstrips many of its genre rivals and definitely makes it one of the best card games on Android.

Legends of Runeterra is set in the same world as League of Legends, and the quality and quantity of the artwork in the game is pretty astonishing, not only fleshing out the world but utilizing its many characters as in-game Champions too. Check out our guide for Legends of Runeterra decks, if you’re looking to get started.

Hearthstone

A weary party of adventurers stumbles into a strange tavern in the woods. The paladin walks up to the bar, where the innkeeper is polishing a tankard, and says “My good sir, pray grant me one of your finest pints of ale, for our road has been long and weary!” The innkeeper looks up in puzzlement: “We only serve cards here laddie.” The Paladin is taken aback. “Then we shall find another establishment!” But as he tries to leave he finds the door is locked. “Oh, you can’t ever leave now. Come and warm yourself by the fire… I’ve got a little game to show you.”

That is the story of how Hearthstone came to be, and how it basically defined this whole generation of mobile deck builders. Based on the Warcraft universe, players battle with a selection of heroes and minions, using a gradually increasing stock of mana to play cards and escalate the battle. The game also introduced an auto chess mode, Battlegrounds, to much approval. If you want to give it a look, our tips for Hearthstone Battlegrounds on mobile can help you get started.

Exploding Kittens

A game of hot potato with a nitroglycerine-infused feline escalates until every player save one has met their maker. Exploding Kittens combines fiery cat death and simple humor, to create a game with hostility and sabotage at its core. Each player only has one life to live, and one defuse card to keep that hairball from becoming a fireball, so quickly players will find they are at each other’s throats. The game is a childish, cartoonish pastiche of obvious jokes made too often, but it remains one of the best guilty pleasures around.

Thronebreaker

This is a fantastic deck-building RPG set in the world of The Witcher and is undoubtedly one of the best card games on Android. Following Queen Meve and her plucky band of guerilla fighters, you muster an army to take back your usurped throne. Thronebreaker itself is a wonderful combination of RPG overworld elements, and deck-building synergy as you build your force. Check out our Thronebreaker review if you want to know more. We also spoke to the game’s director about building an RPG world with cards!

Those are all the games we have for now! If you’re still looking for further recommendations, have a glance at our best Android games and best iOS games lists. Also if you enjoy tabletop ports, our guide to the best digital board games might be for you!