The 'Neopets TCG' is an out-of-print collectible card game and a spin-off of the popular virtual pet website, Neopets. The game was launched in 2003 and produced by Wizards of the Coast, a large trading card company that produces a variety of other trading card games. Neopets is aimed at a slightly younger audience than other Wizards of the Coast offerings such as Magic: The Gathering. As with many other trading card games, the cards serve two purposes, collecting and playing a game.
The card game was discontinued in 2006.
Gameplay overview
Neopets TCG is a two-player game, where each player has a play deck of at least 40 cards and a separate deck of at least 10 Basic Neopets. Most deck-building articles suggest a limit of 2-3 species for the Basic Neopets, along with a minimum of 20 Item and/or Equipment cards (essentially half of the deck). Each card may have only 3 copies included. Players start with a single Neopet on the first turn, moving up to three by the third turn. These Neopets compete against opposing Neopets in four different arenas: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Magic. Winning a competition during a player's own turn allows the player to bank or draw a card; banking enough cards of sufficient value eventually leads to victory.
Types of cards
The various Neopets cards are divided into categories that affect gameplay in different ways. The different card types are as follows:
Basic Neopet
Experienced Neopet
Item
Equipment
Hero
Villain
Something Has Happened! Location Fate (Curse and Quest) Constellation
Basic Neopet (Yellow) The Basic Neopet cards are the foundation of the game, and are based on the creatures from the Neopets website. The cards list four abilities or attributes, which are: strength, agility, intelligence, and magic. Each of these is given a value, with a higher number denoting a greater power or skill in a given category. Basic Neopets never have a printed score higher than 10, or lower than 1.
Experienced Neopet (Grey) The Experienced Neopet is much like an evolved Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. An Experienced Neopet has higher attributes, and often has helpful special abilities that influence various part of the game. The Experienced Neopet cards consist of both a Neopet species and an occupation, e.g. Jubjub Engineer. Only Neopets of the matching base species can transform into the Experienced Neopet role, so, for example, only a Jubjub could turn into a Jubjub Engineer, while a Mynci could not.
Hero & Villain (White, and Black) Villain cards and Hero cards both have extremely high ability numbers, and are designed to oppose one another. If a villain is played, the arena in which the villain is located is effectively sealed off until the villain is confronted and beaten, until which point the players cannot start contests against their opponent in that arena, only the villain. A Hero card can be used to fight a difficult battle (often against a villain), but can be used only once before being discarded.
Item & Equipment (Red, and Blue) Item and Equipment cards increase a Neopet's abilities, by adding points onto the printed base number in one or more categories, and frequently have special abilities that affect gameplay. Whereas Items can only be used once before being discarded, Equipment is attached to the Neopet and remains there until it is removed by another card. The advantage to Items is that they can be sprung upon an opponent unexpectedly.
Item and Equipment cards are also the only cards worth points, ranging from 0 to 8. A player must "bank" 21 points worth of Items and Equipment cards in order to win the game.
Something Has Happened! (Purple) Something Has Happened! cards cause a one-time, instantaneous event or effect to occur. These cards often are used to influence the outcome of a battle, and are then discarded. Because one can discover that "Something has Happened!" at virtually any time, such cards can introduce a heavy element of surprise.
Location (Green) Location cards can be played in one area to affect all future battles taking place there (until they get replaced by another Location). The Location can give an advantage to a certain kind of Neopet, or can cause some side effect to any battles occurring there. Location cards are typically based upon the fantasy locations of the Neopets website.