The 5 Best VR Card Games That You Can Enjoy On Meta Quest and PCVR

I never thought of Virtual Reality as a good way to play card games until I actually tried a few. As with so many genres in VR, I was very happy to be proven wrong by some of the fantastic VR card games that are available.

So much so that I’ve even decided to compile this list of the best VR card games around for you to try. Some are free, some are paid, but all are great examples of how card games, Virtual Reality 3D immersion, and good hand controls can make you feel like you really are playing cards with other people at a table.

I found competitive VR trading card games, and more classic games like VR poker, and they’re all in this list. Here are the best card games that you can play in Virtual Reality.

Cards and Tankards

The Cards and Tankards Logo featuring the newest card set at the time of writing

Cards and Tankards is the purest example of a VR card game out there. I had an absolute blast playing it and met some very friendly opponents along the way. Card and Tankards has cards to collect, decks to build, and most importantly both AI and human opponents to play against with those decks entirely in Virtual Reality.

Cards and Tankards is its own card game too, with its own cards, mechanics, and most significantly VR hand interactions that you use to play and use those cards in the game. It’s very reminiscent of Hearthstone, but not closely enough to be considered a direct copy. Cards and Tankards has its own strategies, balance between cards, and gameplay mechanics that make it significantly different from any other card game.

However you’ll find some similarities between this VR game and flatscreen card games like Hearthstone. For instance, a “Deathrattle” type ability that plays when a card is destroyed on the board that functions the same as it does in Hearthstone but under a different name. Still, if you want a Hearthstone VR game then Cards and Tankards will deliver on that and also have some fresh new twists to the formula.

This VR Card Game is also pretty fun to interact with and look at. Each unit you play will have a 3D representation on the board, and they all have animations that will play out when they perform the actions you command them to do. I enjoyed the immersion of not only seeing and talking to my opponent but also seeing and physically interacting with creatures and cards on the game board.

Playing a card in Cards and Tankards

Cards and Tankards has everything you would expect from a competitive trading card game but in VR. There is a competitive ladder and progression in the form of currency and card packs to purchase. Oh, and it’s entirely free to play. You can optionally buy additional cards and cosmetics, but you will also receive a lot of currency to get more cards and options just by playing the game.

There are multiple factions in Cards and Tankards with unique mechanics and some core cards that are shared between all factions. You’ll have to beat the AI with each faction’s starter deck to gain access to it, making it so you won’t be clueless when playing against a human opponent with that new deck. I played most of my early games with the first deck you acquire after the tutorial and I won quite a bit even with that.

Flipping the hourglass to finish a turn in Cards and Tankards

I did find that the VR interactions themselves aren’t the most well crafted, with some occasional bugginess and issues with grabbing items, and they’re not strictly necessary to make this game work. You flip an hourglass to end your turn, and I often get frustrated just trying to grab the thing.

The hand control interactions with the tabletop you play the game on are great though. For instance, some cards are activated by hitting their 3D model on the board on the head with your hand. This is basically the same as clicking on that card would be, but adds some fun to the VR world that you’re playing the game in and it was a little touch that I found was very entertaining and added some Virtual Reality flare to the experience. You can even walk around the table to get a different view or check out your opponent’s side of the board.

So Cards and Tankards combines Virtual Reality with the experience of playing a collectible card game. All of the opponents I played against were very nice, and talking to them through the open mic in the game felt a lot like playing a card game in person. So if you want a unique VR card game definitely give Cards and Tankards a try.

It’s also free on Meta Quest and PCVR via Steam, so you’ve got nothing to lose.

Demeo

The Demeo Logo

Demeo might be what you might consider less of a “Card Game”, but I had a ton of fun with it and really enjoyed the turn based strategy and variety of cards that each of the game’s classes has access to.

Well, before I get ahead of myself let me tell you more about what Demeo is. It’s a dungeon crawler combined with a card game. There are a number of classes to pick in the game that define the character that you play, which is represented in the dungeon you’re crawling by their piece on the board.

Each class in Demeo has a different selection of stats like maximum health, melee damage, and unique mechanics that each class has access to, such as the armor that the guardian class has, sort of like an extra health pool.

Of course, each class in the game has a different selection of cards to pick from, and there are even extra cards that you can find in chests spread throughout the map. Another favorite class of mine was the sorcerer, who has really powerful spell cards like Zap which stuns an enemy for a turn and can be reused every turn, or fireball that does a ton of damage in an area.

Freezing enemies in Demeo

Once you and your characters arrive in a dungeon it’s a long series of turn based combat challenges to get through the three levels of each dungeon and come out on the other side victorious and covered in gold and glory.

If you really enjoy the Dungeons & Dragons vibe and look and want a VR tabletop card game to play, then Demeo definitely delivers. I found that the turn based combat was fun both solo while controlling an entire party and in multiplayer with each player controlling their individual party member. I did find the constant barrage of combat encounters to be a little fatiguing over time, and my one complaint about this game is that the periods of rest between fights were few and far between.

The strategizing and decision making you do during each combat encounter felt a lot like playing Baldurs Gate 3, except Demeo is much heavier on the combat side of things. Each level of each dungeon is covered in a variety of different enemies, and you not only need to learn the strengths of the cards that your character’s class has access to but also what abilities each enemy uses.

Playing a card in Demeo

The VR controls are also superb and gave me that tactile feeling of controlling my character like I actually would during a tabletop gaming session. I liked just looking at the dungeon board itself, and each is very well made and looks fantastic in Virtual Reality.

For a game that combines dungeon crawling, excellent multiplayer coop, an immersive VR tabletop, and a class based card system that encourages tactical thinking, I recommend Demeo.

There is also a player versus player version of Demeo called Demeo Battles for those who want a more competitive than cooperative experience.

PokerVR And Vegas Infinite

The PokerVR Logo

No list of the best VR Card Games is complete without representation of the oldest sorts of card games to exist, gambling card games. I’m not the biggest gambler myself, though I’ve played poker on quite a few occasions in real life.

Whether you’re already someone who enjoys playing Poker for fun or somebody who just wants a card game to play in Virtual Reality, PokerVR and Vegas Infinite (previously known as Pokerstars VR) are both great VR Poker games. I found both of them to be very similar to the experience of sitting at a real life poker table with strangers and with the added benefit of not losing any real money if I didn’t do well.

If you’re a fan of Texas Hold’em Poker then these two PokerVR games are just what you’re looking for. There are a variety of game modes in either and some small differences that I won’t go into great detail about here. Suffice it to say both of them offered me a fun poker experience, and I really couldn’t pick one to recommend over the other. So I’ll recommend them both.

There is currently a lot of debate about which of these two games is the better one. They are both slightly different, and your preference will likely come down to what you naturally prefer. There are different environments to play Poker in both, and different characters to represent you in the game. If you’re interested in trying your hand at some card game gambling in Virtual Reality then give both of these games a try and see which one you prefer.

Both PokerVR and Vegas Infinite are 100% free!

Tabletop Simulator

The Tabletop Simulator Logo

In case you didn’t know, Tabletop Simulator can be played entirely in Virtual Reality. Though it is PCVR only and will require a way to play VR on a computer, sorry Quest standalone fans. You’ll have to set up Steam Link or Airlink to try Tabletop Simulator.

If you’re not certain what Tabletop Simulator is then it does exactly what it says, simulates a wide variety of tabletop game experiences on a flat screen, or in full immersive Virtual Reality.

Tabletop Simulator is used to digitally play everything from Chess to day long board games, and that includes all sorts of Card games. There are no specific rules to the game. Just a physics engine, and a vast array of customizable pieces for the board. That means you can play with any sort of cards you like, all in Virtual Reality.

You can play all sorts of classics like blackjack or poker in Virtual Reality using this game or even invent a card game of your own to try out. I haven’t found any experience that’s quite so diverse as Tabletop Simulator because the only restriction is your creativity and imagination. Of course, you don’t have to invent your own card game to enjoy it either.

So if you’re looking for more VR Card Games than you might know what to do with check out Tabletop Simulator’s Steam Community page for what sorts of games are available.

Of course, you’ll also have to find others interested in playing your chosen card game, though luckily there are plenty of Discord servers out there with interested players.

The one thing I didn’t like about Tabletop Simulator was that a lot of its diverse options take a lot of additional organization and effort to play both to get into a game and once you’re already at the table. Still, for twenty dollars there are a lot of different card games you can enjoy in VR here.

Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl

The Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl Logo

I’m really torn by Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl. On one hand, it’s a card based real time strategy game that should be tickling every VR satisfaction bone in my body. On the other hand, I also realize that it has some serious issues that make it a very hard game to recommend, and to be honest I just don’t play it much anymore.

Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl is sort of like a VR Clash Royale. You have one side of your map and your opponent has another. Each of you play cards from your hand to summon units and cast spells on the field in order to invade and destroy the other player’s towers and castle on their side of the map.

All of this is on a fully 3D table and with fully 3D units that you can watch fight each other completely in Virtual Reality. This game should be great to me on so many levels.

Crafting cards in Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl

So when I first picked up VR I loved this game as one of the best VR RTS games out there. I played a lot of it but was very disappointed to find that coming back to the game none of my progress was saved. This was a huge bummer because I’d spent a lot of time crafting cards with resources that I won from the many games I had played.

So starting from nothing was a huge bummer for me. What was more of a bummer is that it’s nearly impossible to find a game against another player. I waited for about five minutes before giving up, because I’d never want to have to wait any longer than that to find a match.

So I thought that I could possibly recommend this game as a Singleplayer experience against the AI but well… the AI didn’t take how horrible the starting deck is into consideration. It had better units and stomped me every time despite my experience with the game.

The field of battle in Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl

So I still consider Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl to be a great VR card game, but if there were any better options I’d rather be putting them on this list of the best VR card games.

At the moment there really aren’t, and so despite having the bones of a great game, it’s clear that Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl is dead. I’m leaving this game on this list in the hope that a VR developer might see this someday and decide to create a better version of this concept, and as a monument to fun times I once had in this VR game.

I don’t currently recommend that you buy this game for the price of 9.99$ even if it’s on sale. I’d only recommend you take a peek if it was totally free. Still, it would be much more fun if anyone still played it.

That’s it for the best VR Card Games. I hope you’ve found something here that you like. I’m still having a lot of fun in many of these games, Cards and Tankards most of all. Enjoy!