Fellow sparkly cardboard fiends, this one’s for you. Trading Card Inspector is an upcoming simulation game from Daydream Gallery and Catoptric Games that lets you live out the TCG evaluator fantasy, complete with stacks of rare cards and collectibles.

It’s available in demo format on Steam, and it’s an incredibly charming experience. Below, you’ll find The Escapist’s first impressions of the Trading Card Inspector demo, looking at everything from the core gameplay mechanics to the ominous Habubis Corporation.

The Escapist recaps

• Trading Card Inspector is a light-hearted TCG simulation game, developed by Daydream Gallery and published by Catoptric Games. 
• In Trading Card Inspector, you work as, surprisingly, a trading card inspector, evaluating cards and rare collectibles for the Habubis Corporation, poring over vibrant cardboard rectangles and working out their exact value for eager collectors.
• Two modes are available in the demo – endless and story. Story mode is much more narrative-driven than you might expect from a first look at the game, taking you deeper into the murky heart of the Habubis Corporation.
• There is an in-game store offering cosmetics and upgrades, along with extra packs, but the bulk of these were not available in the demo. There was the option to buy booster packs of cards, though. 
• Trading Card Inspector felt as if it’d been crafted by folks who have a real love for trading cards, gacha, and collectibles. It’s a silly and light-hearted experience with bags of character.

All praise the mighty Plarbo

Trading Card Inspector is a TCG puzzle-sim game, developed by Daydream Gallery and published by Catoptric Games. It’s a light-hearted, casual experience that’ll keep TCG collectors and gacha lovers entertained, even in its demo format.

In the Trading Card Inspector demo, you’re hired by the Habubis Corporation to work as a TCG evaluator, being given your shift assignments via notes from management.

To complete a shift, you’ll need to pore over the trading cards that appear on your desk, cross-examining them with your info sheets, looking to see if their stats are legit, if they’ve been banned, and how much they’re worth. Invalid cards must be shredded, while valid cards must be accurately valued and sent back to their owner.

As you might expect, the amount of information on offer increases steadily – you’ll need to juggle a lot of notes and alterations from management as the shifts roll on, all while dealing with other issues like earthquakes that rattle your desk and send cards flying. 

Something particularly fun was when management would send alteration notes at the start of a shift, completely changing the rules and adding a new modifier to manage. 

The difficulty curve was satisfying and made the demo feel cohesive; it got trickier, but it never felt unfair or ridiculous. There were also useful tools on the desk to help manage the later shifts, like a counter and notes about prime numbers, which this maths-averse reviewer was incredibly grateful for.

Quirky, vibrant gameplay with soul 

Simulation games aren’t always thought of as the most narrative-driven experiences; they usually skew towards a mechanic-focused experience instead. There’s nothing wrong with this, as it makes sense for the genre, but playing a sim game with a lively story behind it was exciting and made Trading Card Inspector’s demo stand out.

There’s something strange about the Habubis Corporation – as you play through the demo’s story mode, you’ll begin to learn more about the mysterious company as you work through each shift and get more notes sent to you. 

Both the story mode and endless mode were a lot of fun to play through in the Trading Card Inspector demo. They highlighted the game’s mechanics nicely and set up the world that the game takes place in, but still left just enough out to get players hyped for the full release. 

Visually, Trading Card Inspector is a treat, with cute visuals, interesting cards, and clean menus. There are numerous color palette options on offer in the demo, letting you customize the visual style. You can opt for a Game Boy green palette, for example, or a menacing red and black theme. 

Performance-wise, there were no notable quirks, glitches, or issues with the Trading Card Inspector demo. It looked lovely and ran smoothly, and the controls were intuitive overall.

Trading Card Inspector is a title to keep an eye on if you’re a fan of trading cards, collectibles, or the gacha world in general. It’s a delightful addition to the simulation game world, even in its demo format, with a gameplay style that’s approachable at first but still provides a decent challenge, too. 

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References

1. Trading Card Inspector Demo on Steam (Store.steampowered)

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