Card gaming can be Chaotic

Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! seemed to take the world by storm, both as anime and later as marketing juggernauts, each with a card game at the center of the melee.  Now another 4Kids Entertainment property stands poised to reach into the wallets of parents everywhere when it is released in September: Chaotic.

Already a TV show, the Danish TCG (trading card game) incorporates the same type of basic structure with monsters battling and energy points that can be lost as the fight wears on.  Chaotic, though, takes a more interactive approach, according to the news release:

Chaotic's revolutionary feature is its patented alphanumeric code technology. In the cutting-edge, multimedia Chaotic Trading Card Game, each paper trading card has its own code that not only ensures that virtually no two cards are alike but also enables players to upload their collection of Chaotic cards free to battle and trade online at the Chaotic Trading Card Game portal.

Crazy, but definitely one of the most inventive ways to draw young eyes to the website and create online communities, which will then be able to take advantage of the chats.  I got to take a test run of the basic card game without all the multimedia bells and whistles.

Drew Nolosco, a member of the team that designed the Chaotic game, was nice enough to give me a quick lesson.  Drew believes that card games like Chaotic and Magic the Gathering "encourage social play, help kids strengthen basic math skills" and even helps develop "tactical" thinking.

Though it is designed for 8- to 12-year-olds, I picked it up quickly.  Wait ...

Anyway, I won't go step-by-step through it, but suffice it to say I have now mastered the location decks, attack decks, the mujik (magic & sound combined -- cool concept) cards, the monsters and the little red rock things.  All in one lesson. And now I'm ready to challenge any 10-year-old who has the guts!

-- Jevon Phillips