WWE Super Cards Review (iOS)

I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a mobile gaming experience before this. Most of the time, I feel like phone games are too basic for me, or too complicated to be played on a single-screen touch device. But WWE Super Cards finds a happy medium that I quickly fell in love with. You can figuratively play this game without actually touching it…but it’s best if you go hands on.

WWE Super Cards asks you to do two things: Collect cards and then destroy them. You find common cards, then use them to “train” stronger cards you come across as you play. Cards range from common to “legendary” with a range of rarity in between. Rare cards have higher base stats and can be leveled further. By sacrificing weaker cards, strong cards gain might, much like actual professional wrestling depends on jobbers to lose to more popular characters. You can also combine two of the same card into a “pro” version of the superstar, allowing them another tier of levels to rise in. There’s a constant stream of new content for you to collect, and everything you gain is useful in some way.

Battling in WWE Super Cards is easy. You enter the exhibition menu, mess with your deck, maybe level some dudes up here and there, then jump into a match with someone else’s team. You don’t actually play against the other player, just their deck, but the game does a fine job of figuring out the strategy that’s best for the opponent’s deck. Matches are played out simply enough, each round has a theme, such as “charisma” or “toughness”, and whichever card you pick goes against your rival’s. The one with the highest score in the category wins.  From the games I’ve played, I realized two things: First, nobody sets up good tag teams, and second, if you want to win you need a strong Diva (female wrestler). Every match I’ve lost so far was because someone had a better Diva than I did, which wasn’t often. I’m REALLY good at Super Cards. Don’t even try to test me.

The other mode the game offers, King of the Ring, is hands off in a unique way. A set of wrestlers are chosen for your KotR team, and are then sent to do battle in 45 matches over a few days. Each match drains them of stamina, so replacements must be sent out, or energy booster cards (which can be won in exhibition) can be used to revitalize weak Superstars. Exhibition matches can also spit out stat boosters for KotR, and you can train your KotR players in the menu for that mode, making it easy to keep track of who you’re using when. Rare cards are given to the winners, and as long as you check your game every few hours to let tired wrestlers rest or grind out some boosters, you’ll win easily. It’s fun to check your phone throughout the day and see your Superstars kicking butt while you’re not looking.

Super Cards is a free game, and I don’t think anyone but the most starving fan could find a way to spend money on it. You can buy points to spend on extra energy boosters and more card draws after exhibition matches, but why would you do that if you can just play more exhibition matches to get more cards? I feel kinda bad not paying for anything in this game, but maybe it’s just because I’m so good at the game that I don’t need the boosters or the extra cards? I never felt like the F2P elements were a hindrance to the game, and I only hope 2k isn’t hurting because of it.

WWE Super Cards‘ biggest strength is its accessibility. As a wrestling fan, it’s fun to feed lameos to legends, or vice versa. But I believe even non-fans can find a good time here, even if it’s playing occasional exhibition matches while using public transportation. As someone who hates iOS/Android gaming (no Threes?? -ed), WWE Super Cards made me start singing a different tune. And that’s the bottom line.