Suggestions for an easy to learn TCG...?

[Patchouli]

I love TCG/CCGs. Ever since Magic was released gawdawful years ago and I had to drive all over and spend an outrageous amount of money for the starter deck I've loved the idea of these games.

When I got that first starter I opened it up and gleefully laid out all the cards, pouring over the tiny manual and reading all the card text and...I didn't understand it at all. I tried playing against others (alas, who also did not know how to play) with no luck. And I'm too bloody shy to attend any events.

Over the years I've collected starters for so many different card games with the hope that there will be one I can finally understand. I've been told that I interpret the rules in an overly complex way (must be my Virgoness kicking in) and that they are simpler than I think. One of my main issues is that I not only have to learn to play but learn well enough to teach another. Oy... >_<

All that said, does anyone have any suggestions for fairly simple TCG/CCGs? I recently picked up MapleStory iTCG which is cute and seems pretty straight-forward but I've yet to wrangle my husband into trying it with me (he wants to teach me some game called "chess" - pshaw!). I'd really like to try a game that people actually play because honestly, I don't walk through the game tables at the mall and see people playing MapleStory, you know?

Sorry for the rambly post. ^_^;

-Patch

[Peralisc2]

Urban Rivals is the most simple mided TCG or whatever it is that i know of. It's also the most simple minded game i can think of ... yes tetris much more complex to me.

[Eladin]

Urban Rivals is pretty simple, but at times the random elements can get annoying (but, like, more so than the random targetting in Alteil)
i played Magic from 4th edition up to about....Weatherlight or so. i'd say, that it was a simple and beautiful game through those expansions though. i fell off after that. must've been too old school, because there were a bunch of added things that didn't actually improve the game in my mind. but i'd say, yeah, it was a pretty easy game to learn. my entire family including mother and father learned and played occasionally too.

next to that, i think that Pokemon is/was (again, been a while) is pretty simplistic, which isn't surprising because i think it was also developed by Wizards of the Coast (the masters of Magic) so, easy to learn still i think, but still pretty fun.

i don't know if the game exists anymore, but a simplistic game also was Overpower. i'll have to look into that though...

ummmm...Yugioh is ok.

stay away from Bleach and Naruto in my opinion if you're looking for simplicity. and...i have yet to get into Legend of the Five Rings...mostly because once i learned that one expansion can become obsolete with the release of a new arc, i got a little...i don't know...but either way, it doesn't sound so easy to learn. Middle Earth is complicated...but i don't think they even have those cards anymore either....

ummm....i think that's it. at least all i can think of that i actually own.

Good luck finding one that works for you! i'd also suggest, if you have a local game/card shop, you should just see about sitting down and watching some people play. i've never been a big rule book holder type. i'll read through it once, memorize the stuff that seemed like it might be a big issue, but then, you always learn more doing.

outside of T/CCGs (not that you were asking ) that's easy to play is Fluxx. real easy, because the cards are the rulebook, you just do as they say, but also very fun, with available play to a bunch of people, and every deck can be mixed together and can all be played together. also matches can go by in five minutes or fifty. it's real fun. (sorry, i'll stop now)