As much as I’m passionate about all things cards and board-related – TCGs (trading card games), boardgames and to a lesser extent, collectible miniature games – there are also people out there who don’t understand what is the difference between a Magic card and a D&D Miniatures stat card.

I had promised previously that Cards & Boards will undergo a reboot of sorts, in line with the rebirth of R.AGE.

Well, after being asked for the umpteenth time on what Cards & Boards is really all about, here are several useful starter links for those who want to know what collectible and boardgames really are, and have been too shy thus far, to ask me directly.

The lowdown on card games and boardgames:

Wikipedia explains card games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_card_games (fairly long – but a useful read if you ever wanted to find out more about how it all started)

The ultimate boardgame resource: www.boardgamegeek.com (the one bookmark, for all card- , board and miniature gamers, both the collectible and non-collectible kind)

Starting the most popular card games in Malaysia, and the market right now:

Magic: the Gathering

Your friends might play different card games, but right now, Magic pretty much commands the lion’s share of people’s interest (and cold-hard cash of course!). There are plenty of other card games out there, but if you need a game with a steady and consistent crowd, who’s more than willing to trade you cards or sit down and hand you a whuppin’ – errr, have a go at you, then Magic is pretty much the game to play.

I won’t get into debating the merits and demerits of it – well, essentially if you’re keen on nice-looking cards with a diverse fantasy-feel and a relatively low to medium learning curve (they have dragons, elves, orcs, goblins, skeletons, bears, beasts, Djinns and even Samurai), then Magic is the game to start.

Getting started in Magic: the Gathering: www.wizards.com/Magic (it’s a real-deal 101 on Magic, plus an intro into the five-color concept so central to the game)

World of Warcraft:

Perhaps you already have a headstart in a little online game called World of Warcraft. Or maybe you’d just like to join the hordes of masses keen on scoring shiny little valuable cards known as Loot Cards. Maybe you also like lots of obscure references to contemporary pop culture. Maybe class really matters to you – yeah, from the righteous and well-equipped Paladins to the tricky and sneaky Rogues and Mages.

Then you’ll want to dive right in to the World of Warcraft. It’s got valuable Loot Cards, it’s got fantasy by the boatloads, ranging from the serious side to the hilariously iconic (Leeroy Jenkins!!), and it’s got Death Knights. Seriously, how cool is all that?

World of Warcraft (the TCG, not the MMORPG): http://bit.ly/FlfiK (it’s got the rulebook, which is optional, since you can straightaway jump into the Flash-based sample game demo).

Well, that’s it for part 1 of boot camp – watch this space as we jump into the what-to-buy tutorial, or what-you-really-want-your-friends/family-to-buy-for-you-this-Christmas shopping guide, for aspiring wizards or <insert-random-World of Warcraft-class-here>.