FAQ

When will the cards release?

Series One has a very rough goal of July 2025. Check the status page for more details. Join us on Reddit or Bluesky to get the latest news as well.

Will these cards be sold or free?

Starting with Series One, this will be a paid, commercial, product. We are unsure what the price will be just yet, but hoping to keep it reasonable. These are just paper cards after all.

How will they be sold?

Each series will be sold as a single pack, packaged up like a "booster pack". Quotes because each pack will contain the entire series, so they won't be like regular booster packs. No need to buy a whole bunch of packs in hopes of getting them all.

We are hoping to also have a single foil card in each pack. The idea is each pack contains the entire set as regular cards, plus one card from the series as a foil. This is because it is unlikely we can create foil cards that can scan in an E-Reader. The foil card is just for collecting. We think this is a nice compromise between those who like to collect and those who just want to play the games.

Series one will not have foil cards. We are looking into other ways to make series one more fun to collect for, stay tuned.

Where will they be sold?

We are still figuring this out. Most likely here at retrodotcards.com. We are also considering doing a Kickstarter, more to come.

Where can I get an E-Reader?

The best place I know is Ebay. The US E-Reader and the Japan E-Reader+ will both work with RetroDotCards. The Japan E-Reader+ is often much cheaper. But do be aware that the E-Reader region determines whether the card has English or Japanese text. There were three E-Readers released:
A US E-Reader

A US E-Reader

  • + English RetroDotCards will work
  • + Nintendo's English E-Reader cards will work
  • - Japanese RetroDotCards will not work
  • - Nintendo's Japanese E-Reader cards will not work
A JPN E-Reader+

A JPN E-Reader+

  • + Japanese RetroDotCards will work
  • + Nintendo's Japanese E-Reader cards will work
  • - English RetroDotCards will not work
  • - Nintendo's English E-Reader cards will not work
A JPN E-Reader

An early JPN E-Reader

  • - No RetroDotCards will work
  • - Only a small subset of Nintendo's Japanese cards work

Will Japanese and English RetroDotCards be the same?

RetroDotCards will be released in three versions:
  • English text for US E-Reader
  • Japanese text for Japan E-Reader+
  • English text for Japan E-Reader+
Japanese cards will have Japanese text on the card itself, and Japanese text in the running game. English cards will have English text on the cards and in the game.A screenshot of Exo Attack with Japanese text

The third option is because the Japanese E-Reader+ is much more common than the US E-Reader. Many people who do not speak Japanese buy the Japanese E-Reader since it is easier to get. This version will have some minor differences from the regular English version:
  • The text is more spread out on the screen
  • Some games might need an additional dot strip because English text on Japanese E-Reader takes up double the space that it normally would. I expect this to be the case for Franny Answers if nothing else.
A comparison of the text between English on a Japanese E-Reader versus a US E-ReaderStandard English text on the top, and the wider English on Japanese E-Reader text on the bottom.

Otherwise it will be exactly the same as the regular English release. The cards will have English text on them, and a small symbol to indicate they are the "English on Japanese E-Reader" version.

Will all games be released for both Japanese and English?

For Series One, Franny Answers will not be in the Japanese version. This game has a lof of text in it and I am not confident I can get it translated very well.

For Series Two and beyond, I am not sure. Hopefully I will have a better way of doing text heavy Japanese games in the future.

Will these games be playable any other way?

Possibly, I might release the games on Steam and mobile platforms. I also might release digital versions of the E-Reader cards that you can play in emulators or with a GBA flash cart. But none of this is certain, stay tuned!

Who is making this?

Hi, I'm Matt. I am the primary person behind RetroDotCards, but my wife also helps out. If you want to know more, here is my personal website.

I have another question

You can email me your question and I will get back to you.