It’s hard for me to think of a more universal expression of play or a genre of games with a wider appeal than trading card games. Trading cards have been around for centuries, attracting sports fans, nerds, the financially savvy, and the “I just like things that look pretty” crowd.

But the history of that industry helps us understand not only culture, but ourselves.

So in our fifth episode of EXP, we’ll explore how trading cards began, how they transformed into trading card games (TCGs), why they exploded in the late 90s and early 2000s, and what their digital evolution reveals about the way we play today.

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To prepare for this episode, we asked our social media audience, “How does digital entertainment affect you compared to physical entertainment?” If you didn’t get a chance to join the conversation, you can use the button below to comment here with your answer, or click the image to start following @bythebookgames on Instagram.

This first season of EXP is meant to be foundational. We’ve looked at play big picture, from a health standpoint and a faith perspective. We reflected on some digital and physical case studies, proving that the claims of those first three episodes are true in real life, not just in theory.

But now, we need to bring sports into the conversation. How do they actually compare to video games, when thinking about what’s good for you? Find out when episode 6 lands in your inbox next Thursday.

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