What Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links is
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links puts the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game on your computer with controls rebuilt for digital play, so turns, card placement and effects are handled with a few clicks instead of a table full of cards. Signature monsters like Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon show up with animated 3D sequences when they hit the field. The game runs on the Duel World map, where any location turns into a Duel Field and Duels start right there. It is free to play, and it is a card game first: you collect cards, build a Deck, and play it out turn by turn against other people.
Playing with your group
Duel Links is built around online PvP, so you and your friends each run your own account and take each other on in Duels from wherever you are. Everyone builds their own Deck from the cards they have collected, which means no two players in your group need to run the same list — you can compare builds, trade ideas about card choices, and see whose Deck holds up when you face off. The Steam features list Online PvP, and the game also carries Online Co-Op and Multiplayer tags, so there is room for your group to find matches together rather than only against strangers. Ranked play lets you climb the rankings and aim for the title of King of Games, which gives your group a shared goal to track.
Before you start
Duel World works as a single campaign: you pick a character such as Yugi, Kaiba, Joey or Mai, complete Stage Missions to earn rewards, and level that character up to earn Skills. Other Legendary Duelists are unlocked by completing specific Missions, so expect some solo work before your roster is full. New cards come from the Shop, and more cards are planned for later, so your Deck will keep changing over time. The controls are described as intuitive for beginners but deep enough for Yu-Gi-Oh! veterans, so newcomers in your group can get going while experienced players still have something to dig into. One note on language: Japanese text can only be selected if you started the game in Japan.