On Steam, the new game “Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel” is currently climbing the charts. The free-to-play card game is now also playable on consoles – what’s inside?
What kind of game is this? Whether as a manga, TV series, or card game: In the early 2000s, it was hard to avoid “Yu-Gi-Oh”. So it’s no wonder that the monster cards quickly found their way into numerous video game versions.
The new “Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel” now joins with stylish graphics and plenty of monster cards. It was released across platforms on January 19, 2022.
The game offers classic Yu-Gi-Oh duels. You can assemble your decks from over 10,000 cards and compete in tournaments, solo modes, or against players from around the world. A tutorial brings you up to date on rules and mechanics – because a lot has been added since the early days of the card game.
The game is free-to-play, meaning it can be downloaded for free. This applies to both Steam and the console versions: Master Duel is also available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. At a later date, mobile versions for iOS and Android are also planned.
A brief overview is shown in the trailer:
Yu-Gi-Oh climbs on Steam, surpassing Apex Legends & GTA V
This is how the game is doing: Although the game was released quietly on January 19, 2022, it is currently attracting a lot of players on Steam. According to the “Steamcharts” overview, “Master Duel” is currently in fourth place among the games with the most active players.
With just over 208,000 current players, Yu-Gi-Oh is currently only behind CS:GO, Dota 2, and the recently transitioned free-to-play model PUBG: Battlegrounds (as of January 20, 2022, 6:16 PM).
Games like Apex Legends (currently: 182,696 players, 5th place) have thus been left behind for the moment. In comparison to GTA V (6th place, 106,570 players), the card game currently has nearly double the number of players.
This is what players are saying: On Steam, the game is currently rated “Mostly Positive”, based on 3,089 reviews, of which 75% were declared “positive” (as of January 20, 2022, 6:16 PM, via Steam).
Players praise the variety of cards included in the game, as well as the gameplay, which implements the card game well. Additionally, there are reward and crafting systems that allow players to secure cards for their decks quite effectively, at least at the start.
However, it should be noted that there is a shop where you can also spend real currency for so-called “gem sets”. With these, you can buy additional card packs, thus gaining an advantage.
However, some players criticize that it is not entirely easy for new or returning players after several years to follow the game. There are long effect chains that can lead to very many and very strong cards being played early in the game. Those who only know the very original, basic Yu-Gi-Oh might have trouble with that.
In autumn 2021, Yu-Gi-Oh also made headlines – but not as a game of its own, rather as a means to an end. Because: A player used the cards to play Final Fantasy XIV.
