A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) or customizable card game, is a card game that uses specially designed sets of playing cards. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and patent holdings of game companies. The rudimentary definition requires the game to resemble trading cards in shape and function, be mass-produced for trading or collectibility, and it must have rules for strategic game play. [1][2]
The definition of CCGs is further refined as being a card game in which the player uses his own deck with cards primarily sold in random assortments. Acquiring these cards may be done by trading with other players or buying card packs. If every card in the game can be obtained by making a small number of purchases, or if the manufacturer does not market it as a CCG, then it is not a CCG.