Card games help players hone life skills
Trading card games like Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon are increasingly viewed as tools for developing social skills, risk management, and communication. Enthusiasts report that these games help them build communities and manage personal challenges like social anxiety.
Why it matters
It highlights the evolving perception of gaming from a solitary activity to a community-building social practice.
JOHOR BARU: It looks like a simple game of cards, but to a growing community of enthusiasts, competitive trading card gaming is a way to sharpen mental skills and foster real-world connections.
For medical secretary Samantha Wong, 28, competitive trading card gaming became an unexpected social outlet after she moved to Australia and found it difficult to build a new circle of friends.
“I got into trading card gaming about three years ago after being introduced to it at my local game store while competing in Pokemon video game tournaments,” she said.
“The activity has helped me manage social anxiety and build a close-knit group of friends.”
Wong devotes 10 to 20 hours a week to the hobby.
Wong, who is from Johor and currently based in Perth, said the hobby has also helped her become more comfortable interacting with others, despite the card gaming community being predominantly male.
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