Three popular card games: Pokémon, Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!

SAN JOSE — Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! are three popular trading-card games with different rules, ages and starter costs, according to materials from The Pokémon Company International, Wizards of the Coast and Konami—not hands-on testing.

Pokémon is a two-player battle with 60-card decks. Players attach Energy to power attacks, knock out Pokémon for Prize cards, and win by taking all Prizes or clearing the opponent’s Pokémon. The company’s parents guide says My First Battle suits ages 6+. Hobby shop Valhalla Hobby lists that two-player mini-deck set at $9.99.

Magic: The Gathering, from Wizards of the Coast, is a spell-casting strategy game. Players tap lands for mana, cast creatures and spells, and try to drop an opponent from 20 life to zero. Many Magic starter products are labeled ages 13+. Wizards’ Marvel Super Heroes Beginner Box has a $34.99 MSRP; Play Boosters list at $6.99 MSRP on Wizards’ store-network pages.

Yu-Gi-Oh!, from Konami, is a two-player Duel with Monster, Spell and Trap cards. Players start at 8,000 Life Points and usually win by reducing the opponent to zero. Konami’s parents FAQ designs it for ages 6+ if a child can read card text and do basic math. The official 2-Player Starter Set is $19.99 MSRP; Structure Decks about $11.99; boosters such as Beyond the Brave are $4.49 a pack.

Starter sets teach with fixed decks. Random boosters do not guarantee useful or valuable cards.

Source: Pokémon parents; Pokémon learn; Valhalla Hobby My First Battle; Magic how-to-play; Wizards Marvel buyer’s guide; WPN Spider-Man Play Booster; Yu-Gi-Oh! parents FAQ; 2-Player Starter Set; Blue-Eyes Structure Deck; Beyond the Brave.