| Digimon Alysion | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Register & Pre-Order | Closed Beta Review |
Digimon Alysion is an upcoming free-to-play digital trading card game that serves as a mobile adaptation of the physical Digimon Card Game. Read on to learn everything we know, our review of the closed beta, and more.
Everything We Know About Digimon Alysion
Digimon Alysion Plot
The game follows Kanata Hondo and her partner Digimon, Gabumon and Agumon. Alongside them are Futre, partnered with Gemmon, and Valner Dragnogh, partnered with Renamon.
Kanata is invited by her online friend Futre to experience the VR card game Digimon Liberator, accessed through full-dive headsets in the metaverse space Lacuna. Initially unfamiliar with Digimon cards, Kanata explores the world in her virtual avatar and begins to form a bond with new Digimon and other players.
Digimon Alysion Gameplay
Digimon Alysion is a mobile adaptation of the physical Digimon Card Game, and as such, it closely follows its core mechanics. Each player begins with a 50-card deck, which can include Digimon, Tamer, and Option cards. The main objective is to defeat your opponent by depleting their Security Stack—a set of face-down cards that serve as the player’s defense.
Gameplay unfolds in turns, each made up of multiple phases. At the start of their turn, a player unsuspends their Digimon and draws a card. They then enter the Breeding Phase, where they can hatch a Digi-Egg Digimon if one is available. The Main Phase allows players to play Digimon, Tamer, or Option cards from their hand by paying memory costs, which shifts the shared memory gauge toward the opponent. Actions during this phase can include summoning Digimon to the field or evolving them by stacking cards.
The memory gauge is central to the game’s flow. A player’s turn continues until the memory counter swings into the opponent’s side, signaling the end of their turn and the start of the opponent’s—with the memory set to the overage amount.
Digimon Alysion Release Date
Digimon Alysion is set to launch soon on Android and iOS, though a specific release date and time have yet to be confirmed. During Digimon Con 2025, Bandai Namco revealed that an Open Beta is planned for the future.
Digimon Alysion Review [Closed Beta]
Promising, But Nowhere Near Ready
For years, Digimon fans, myself included, have been watching their digital monster brethren get new games, anime, and model kits, while the Digimon Card Game (DCG) remained—ironically—firmly analog. Since its 2020 relaunch, the DCG has been building a loyal and competitive community, complete with regional tournaments and decklists that inspire both admiration and regret from your bank account. And yet, despite the digital age making online card battling as common as caffeine, DCG players had to stick to webcams pointed to their desks and local card shops with friends. When Digimon Alysion, the first official digital adaptation of the modern DCG, was announced, however, people were beyond excited.
This is no small debut. Alysion isn’t a loosely inspired reimagining nor is it similar to the DCG Tutorial App on the app store. It’s positioned as a faithful recreation of the physical card game, memory gauge and all. Fans have been hungry for this. After all, Yu-Gi-Oh! players have Master Duel, Pokémon fans got TCG Pocket, and even The Witcher 3's Gwent—remember Gwent?—has a standalone game despite being in maintenance mode for almost two years now. For Digimon, Alysion is supposed to be the big leap into that arena.
If you’ve been following the franchise, you’ll know this push into digital comes at an interesting time. The DCG’s success has been complemented by Digimon Liberator, a web manga that conveniently doubles as a marketing vehicle for new card sets. The synergy’s there! New storylines keep old fans hooked, new cards keep competitive players happy, and now, the digital version should, in theory, make the game accessible to anyone with Wi-Fi and the craving for one of the better card games out there.
Which is why the closed beta was so highly anticipated. This was our first actual look at how the DCG plays when it’s dressed in pixels instead of cardstock. How would the artwork and depth of the card game translate into a virtual format? Would animations be fluid? Would the deck builder be easy to use? And would it have the kind of exciting gameplay that draws big crowds on Twitch and YouTube, like other popular digital card games? In a perfect world, yes.
But we don’t live in a perfect world, and Alysion’s beta was far from it. The card game itself is still fantastic. Unfortunately, all of that is wrapped in a client that feels like it’s running on too little polish and too many placeholders. Some rough edges are expected in a closed beta, but these are just too jarring to ignore. The hope is that this beta was just a messy first draft. The fear, though, is that Alysion’s final version might look an awful lot like this one.
The Good and the Very Bad
The best thing Digimon Alysion has going for it is also the simplest: it actually is the Digimon Card Game, just on a screen. Every detail that defines the DCG’s identity is here: the memory gauge that replaces traditional mana or energy systems, the layering of evolution lines, the Security Stack, and so on. It’s the full ruleset and not a mobile-friendly remix or a dumbed-down spin-off.
For DCG fans, that’s a big deal. Although Pokémon TCG Pocket is fun in its own way, it's so streamlined that it feels like a different game entirely from the physical TCG. Alysion, by contrast, is exactly what a seasoned DCG player already knows, just with, perhaps, a limited card pool.
This is where Alysion’s potential comes in. Look at Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. Konami took a famously complex game, translated it faithfully, made it extremely free-to-play, and found success by trusting that players wanted the actual experience, not a watered-down version like Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links. Alysion could do the same for Digimon, giving both competitive players and casual ladder climbers a space to experiment, grind, and improve without needing a binder full of expensive cardboard.
Speaking of cardboard, the game's card art just look cool. Some cards even get multiple rarities, and in higher ones, you’ll catch animations and shiny effects that give them a premium look. It’s not as extravagant as, say, TCG Pocket’s animated full-art cards, but it’s still satisfying when you pull something rare and watch it glint on-screen.
Plus, the story mode isn’t bad either. It doubles as a tutorial, and while it’s not the most cinematic thing ever, it teaches the rules in a way that’s approachable. The current storyline is decent, and I hope they expand on it. I'd love to see more polished cutscenes and better voice acting, especially considering how great the Digimon Liberator web comic is.
On the monetization side, the gacha rates are generous enough. Better yet, the game lets you dismantle cards you don’t want—just like in Master Duel—and craft the ones you actually need. Neither TCG Pocket nor Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond lets you do this unless you’ve collected a full set of that card, so Alysion’s flexibility here is a win for free-to-play players.
There’s even a free daily pack system, akin to what TCG Pocket and Worlds Beyond offer. Between that and the crafting system, you can realistically build competitive decks without feeling like you’re crawling through a paywall.
However, the UI and UX are really, really rough. Deckbuilding, for instance, feels like someone forgot to ask an actual player how they use cards. Tapping a card in your collection drops it in your deck instead of showing you its details. There isn’t even a confirmation nor an "add" button on the side; just an instant shove into your list. This means that if you’re just trying to read a card, you might misclick and mess up your deck. The same awkwardness happens when removing cards, with the added annoyance of inconsistent tap-and-hold behavior. It’s rather unintuitive and slow, especially when MTG: Arena and Master Duel have already shown how clean and snappy deckbuilding can be.
The presentation also feels oddly flat. Although the core gameplay is fine, the duels themselves look lifeless. There are little to no animations, no "wow" moments when you drop a Mega Digimon or a high-rarity card. Aesthetics are important in virtual card games, and it’s disappointing that Digimon Alysion fumbles the bag here.
I mean, even the official Digimon Card Game Tutorial App looks and feels more dynamic, complete with Digimon art popping out of the card frame. Alysion’s beta, by contrast, settles for minimal effects and basic attack animations, and it makes the game feel smaller than it is.
Digimon Alysion VS Other Digital Card Games
⚫︎ Note: Gameplay from Pokémon TCG Pocket
Card games don’t exist in a vacuum. They live and die by their ability to stand out in a space where players can download another title in seconds if they get bored. That’s the competitive reality Digimon Alysion is stepping into, and it’s a rather crowded field.
Take Pokémon TCG Pocket for example. It’s almost the polar opposite of what Alysion is trying to be. It’s mobile-first, ultra-fast, and aimed squarely at casual audiences who want a five-minute match between errands. The downside of this is that it trades a lot of depth for accessibility. Alysion, with its faithful DCG ruleset, can offer the full-course experience… but only if it can make that experience smooth enough that people don’t leave mid-game.
⚫︎ Note: Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond (1st), Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (2nd)
Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond is a relatively recent game that knows exactly what it’s doing. It’s a looker—gorgeous card art, dramatic animations, and a slick presentation that makes every match feel theatrical. It’s also big on solo content, with story campaigns that can soak up hours without you even touching PvP. It’s a more pay-to-win experience than Alysion, but the overall package makes Alysion’s beta feel barebones in comparison.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel might be the most direct benchmark for Alysion. It’s a complex, competitive card game brought to life with high production values, a full-featured ranked ladder, and an enormous player base. The crafting system is generous enough that free-to-play players can realistically build top-tier decks without mortgaging their soul. Personally, Master Duel has set the standard for what a modern, competitive TCG client should look like, and it’s a high bar. Right now, Alysion’s beta is missing too many of those quality-of-life features to compete toe-to-toe.
⚫︎ Note: Hearthstone (1st), MTG Arena (2nd), Gwent (3rd)
Hearthstone, meanwhile, remains the blueprint for accessibility. It’s been around for over a decade, and yet its core strengths—instant matchmaking and addictively smooth loop of daily quests—still make it dangerously easy to log in for "a quick match" and end up playing for hours. Hearthstone doesn’t even need to be the deepest competitive game anymore; Alysion will need its own version of that hook.
On the other end of the spectrum is MTG Arena, which, like the physical Magic: The Gathering, is as much about the community and legacy as it is about individual matches. Arena nails its presentation, from polished animations to dramatic spell effects, while offering a long-term competitive ladder and generous onboarding rewards. Even deep, complex card games can still be approachable if the client does enough hand-holding early on.
But then there’s Gwent, which is in an interesting place. Even after going into maintenance mode nearly two years ago, it’s still got an active community and the occasional grassroots tournament. That’s partly because its resource mechanics are unique, partly because it’s just fun to play, and partly because the developers made sure that it’s stable and well-polished before abandoning it, even if no new content is coming. It’s a sobering example that if you make a solid client with strong fundamentals, people will keep playing long after official support slows down.
What Needs to Change Before Launch
In theory, Digimon Alysion has all the makings of a top competitor. It has the depth of the DCG, a nostalgic brand, and the potential to appeal to both veterans and newcomers. But the beta reveals a significant gap between the game’s core ideas and its execution. Although the rules are solid, the polish just simply isn’t there. Loyal fans will likely stick around for the sake of it being an official DCG simulator, but in the competitive TCG space, polish is often the difference between a player sticking with the game or uninstalling it before they even finish the tutorial.
First and foremost, UI and UX need a serious overhaul. The deck builder is clumsy, search functions are almost underwhelming, and the in-game card display often leaves players squinting or second-guessing their plays. On mobile, it’s even trickier, as tiny fonts and cramped layouts mean your thumbs might unintentionally cover the exact card you want to play. New players, especially, could find themselves fumbling over something as basic as figuring out which Digimon can evolve into what.
⚫︎ Note: Gameplay from the Digimon Card Game Tutorial App
Presentation is the other big elephant in the room. The current visuals are serviceable but nowhere near the energy DCG deserves. Right now, Alysion feels visually underdressed for a competitive digital card game in 2025. The official DCG tutorial app somehow manages to feel more dynamic than it, with flashy animations that bring cards to life.
Why not port those assets over? Or go further: follow Pokémon TCG Pocket’s lead with slick full arts, or Master Duel’s habit of letting monsters burst onto the field with theatrics. Imagine a WarGreymon slamming down Gaia Force with a proper animated finisher. Heck, if they were feeling ambitious (and ready to budget for a lot of voice actors), even Hearthstone-style voiced cards could add personality and immersion, though that’s a lofty goal given the card pool size.
This lack of polish translates to even the Tamagotchi-like mode. As it is now, you just tap "digivolve" after a timer runs out, watch a random evolution happen, and collect the card when it hits Mega. It’s a cute nod to its roots, but the original Digimon’s charm was in interacting with the creatures—feeding, training, and fussing over the poop of your digital companion. Even a handful of simple interactions here could turn this from a timer-check into a genuinely fun side activity.
A Great Card Game Still in Rookie Form
Digimon Alysion at the very least nails the most important thing: The Digimon Card Game itself remains as sharp and satisfying as ever. On a mechanical level, Alysion captures the DCG’s depth with fidelity, enough that long-time tabletop players will probably feel at home.
The problem is everything wrapped around those mechanics. The closed beta made it clear that while the foundation is rock solid, the frame it’s sitting in is crooked and missing a few pieces. A clunky UI, underwhelming animations, and missed opportunities in its side features all add up to a game that feels like it’s still in its alpha stages. It’s not unplayable, but in a market where presentation and accessibility matter almost as much as gameplay, functional won’t cut it, sadly.
That said, this isn’t a lost cause. The point of a closed beta is to find the rough edges before launch, and Alysion has been generous enough to give us a whole toolbox’s worth. With targeted fixes, Bandai Namco could easily turn this into the definitive DCG platform. There’s no reason Digimon can’t stand shoulder to shoulder with Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, MTG Arena, or even Pokémon TCG Pocket, especially when the underlying game is good enough to compete with all three.
If Alysion gets the love it needs before release, it could easily become the definitive way to play Digimon online, a hub for casual battles, competitive tournaments, and card collecting alike. But if the beta’s state is any indication, it’s going to take more than a memory boost to get there.
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Digimon Alysion Product Information
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| Title | DIGIMON ALYSION |
|---|---|
| Release Date | TBA |
| Developer | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Publisher | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Supported Platforms | Mobile |
| Genre | Card Game |
| Number of Players | 1-2 |
| ESRB Rating | TBA |
| Official Website | Digimon Alysion Official Website |
