Something that has become much more prominent over the past few years has been trading card games. Not so much the playing of them, which has always enjoyed a loyal fanbase, but rather the popularity of opening packs in hopes of finding a rare card valued at tens, if not hundreds or even thousands of dollars, often in front of a camera to an audience on YouTube or Twitch. Granted, there is something quite addictive about watching someone opening a pack of old cards valued at hundreds of dollars in hopes of that slim chance of pulling a rare Charizard or something similar out of it – and even more so discovering the value that some of these cards hold. With this popularity, it should be unsurprising that a simulation game comes along and attempts to deliver an experience around the monetisation of TCGs.
In September 2024, PC gamers got to enjoy TCG Card Shop Simulator on Steam, which has a booming mod community and even a nomination in the Steam Game Awards under the ‘Sit Back and Relax Award’ category, and plenty of Youtuber support to boot. On the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, following rebranding requirements, gamers received Collectible Card Shop Master. With a different brand of game-exclusive TCG, this is a plays-alike experience to the PC release instead of a direct port, developed by a different studio seemingly not associated with the PC version. But at its core, the foundations of the game are the same. The game still places players at the helm of their own TCG store on a nondescript street, buying a healthy stock of booster packs and boxes, either selling them at a markup or opening them to sell single cards for profit while expanding their store.
Most of the time, the gameplay loop involves working the checkout, giving customers the correct change, restocking shelves, and opening booster packs. It’s a simplistic gameplay loop that doesn’t deliver much depth after an initial 5-10 minutes – combined with inflated prices of a lot of cards meaning that it is easy to simply deck out your store without needing to focus on improving it any further. The foundations are there, but it just needs a lot more than the basics to be interesting past the first half hour. Furthermore, the game’s trophy requirements, typically a way to provide gamers with ample post-game challenge, can easily be completed in a single sitting. Trophies come down to basic tasks including ‘Switch on the light’ and ‘Serve 30 customers’, meaning it is a good game if you want an easy Premium, but nothing special otherwise.
The artwork of the packs is pretty average, and unlike the PC version which pulls in artwork from the developers’ mobile game ‘Tetramon Duel Master’, it instead features a non-descript TCG with what looks to be AI-generated cards. Additionally, much of the game’s key artwork appears to have been generated using generative AI tools. I’m not going to attempt to convince anyone one way or the other about using AI-generated images in commercial games, but the different styles in artwork through the game’s menus and promotional material felt haphazard, edging into that ‘slightly off’ territory that a lot of AI artwork does.
Ultimately, Collectible Card Shop Master was a forgettable experience that held my interest for roughly an hour before I moved on to other games. If you are interested in such a game, you would probably be best picking up TCG Card Shop Simulator on Steam, which enjoys an active modding community with everything from complete reskins to gameplay improvements. Collectible Card Shop Master should have gone to the beat of its own drum rather than attempting to replicate an already existing experience – spend the time crafting a TCG and environment with unique concepts that are its own. Or who knows… maybe I don’t get the appeal of opening virtual card booster packs.
A PlayStation 5 review code of Collectible Card Shop Master was provided to facilitate this review by NOSTRA.GAMES.
Collectible Card Shop Master is now available via the PlayStation Store on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
