Steam has long been not just a service for buying games, but a whole entertainment social network that provides many interesting services. One of them irrevocably turns you from an ordinary user into a rocking gamer user – receiving cards. Before you start collecting them, you should figure out what it is, why and why they are needed.
Contents
What kind of cards
Steam Trading Cards are icons depicting characters, locations, or other items from a particular game. They are issued for the time spent by the player in this game. Thus, the service encourages the user to play further and gives some bonuses.
Not all games on Steam get these pretty icons. However, every year there are more and more of them. In any case, the most popular creations definitely provide players with such an opportunity.
What are they needed for
If collecting these icons isn’t a mere aesthetic pleasure, here’s a practical benefit. They give not so little. Dropping five specific icons from the game allows you to make an icon. What are the benefits of it?
- pride in yourself;
- the possibility of getting a discount on any toy;
- new emoticons using game symbols;
- a background splash from the game for a Steam account;
- 100 experience points to increase the level in the service. And raising the level, respectively, allows you to get even more cards and other cool things from Steam.
Types of cards
The resulting icons are of two types.
- Regular. These cards are dropped simply for the fact that you spend time in the game. In total, you can knock out three different ones. However, they drop out randomly, so, most likely, before getting all three, you will knock out several of the same.
- Foil-cards, or metal cards. You can drop them in the same way. However, they fall out so rarely that, perhaps, you will be convinced that they can really be knocked out only after a few months, if not more. Drop probability: about one percent, in rare cases more, and often even less.
How can I get cards and faster
So, we figured out what cards are and what they are for. It remains to be seen how you can quickly get them on Steam. Basic methods:
- play games;
- log into your Steam account regularly;
- use in-game purchases in installed games;
- exchange with your friends;
- purchase on the trading floor;
- farm with the help of special programs;
- purchase on the forum;
- exchange for gems;
- purchase at seasonal sales.
Game activity
The main option is to receive cards simply by playing purchased games, which include a drop of cards. To find out in which of them they are provided, just go to your profile, and then to “Icons”. This section will show how many cards the user already has, from which games and how many more can be obtained.
It should be borne in mind that for gaming activity you can get only 50% of the icons that are provided in a particular application. The rest can only be bought or received as a gift, exchanged.
Log in to your Steam account regularly
Once a week, Steam randomly selects users to whom 3 cards will be credited for free. The only condition is to log into your account regularly (at least once every 7 days). The likelihood of getting badges in this way is quite low. But it increases along with the increase in the level of the account. For example, at level 20, the chance increases by 20%, at 50 – by 100% (that is, the chance is doubled). More details on how the winners are selected can be found in the Badges section by clicking on the How to get more link.
In-game purchases in installed games
In most games where there are in-game purchases, cards are also given for making them. Conditions for each are individual. But, for example, in games from Valve itself (Dota 2, CS: GO, Team Fortress 2), for every $ 9 spent, they give a new badge. The only drawback is that such cards are often repeated. But they can later be exchanged or sold.
Sharing with other users
The first thing to focus on is that you can only exchange with a friend. Next you will need:
- Go to the “Icons” section.
- Open a game in which you need to get a new card.
- Select “Exchange”.
- The next window will open a list of friends who also have this game installed and which icons they received in it.
- Click on the exchange icon. It’s a shortcut with two rounded arrows (right under the cover of the game).
- Send a request to a friend about the exchange. You can also ask to receive a card free of charge.
- Make an exchange. It is considered completed only if the transaction is confirmed by both participants. You can exchange several items at once.
Naturally, all this is done for free. There are no commissions, the number of exchanges is also not limited.
Buy on the marketplace
To buy new cards, you need to go to the “Badges” section, open the game of interest, and then select “Search on the marketplace” (on the badge that the player wishes to receive). The next window will also display the current balance of the user’s wallet, as well as the average cost of the lot posted on the site by other Steam members.
It remains only to click “Buy”, and then specify the purchase price. If it is below average, then a new request will be automatically created on the marketplace. If it is higher, then a window with current offers will appear, where you can select the one of interest.
By the way, if there are not enough funds on the account, then after clicking the “Order” button (to complete the offer), the card is reserved. And it is automatically redeemed after the balance is replenished.
Farm with programs
Most often, the free Steam Idle Master program is used for this purpose. It is open source and published on Github. All it does is emulate the user’s gaming activity. But at the same time, the games themselves do not start, do not load the system. Naturally, cards from those applications that are added to the Steam library will be credited for this. But no more than 50% of the available ones!
The only caveat is that when this program is running in the background, you shouldn’t run games. This will generate a VAC Authentication Error, after which both Steam and Steam Idle Master must be restarted. This is true for those games in which the VAC anti-cheat system is integrated (most applications from Valve come with it by default).
Buy on the forum
The Badges section also has a Visit Exchange Forum button. True, in order to fully use it, at least a minimal knowledge of the English language is required. The communication rules are as follows:
- indicate the name of the card (in English);
- be sure to write “have” (available) or “want” (the user wants to purchase).
There is also a convenient search form here – it is recommended that you use it first. The exchange itself is carried out in the same way as with a friend. But prices here tend to be higher than on the main marketplace. It makes sense to use the forum to get rare badges.
Gem exchange
Steam has the ability to farm gems using inventory items. In the future, you can collect bags of them and sell them on the site for about 15 – 25 rubles apiece. And also gems can be immediately changed to 3 cards for a specific game. But keep in mind that we are talking about the inventory items of the Steam itself, and not any applications. And these are backgrounds, emoticons, stickers and so on.
So, to convert items into gems you will need:
- go to the “Inventory” tab;
- select “Steam”;
- choose any item;
- click “Convert to Gems”.
By the way, in this way you can also change cards for gems. But for them they give, on average, only 8-10 stones. But for the same emoticons or backgrounds (which users most often get for free) – as much as 60.
After completing the exchange, you can “Collect gems in a bag”. When there are at least 1000 stones in stock, they can be sold on the site. If you select “Create a set of cards”, a window will open where you can exchange gems. But the conditions for each icon are individual. For some, 100 stones are enough, for others they require more than 1000.
Purchase at seasonal sales
Steam has 4 global sales annually. And there you can not only buy profitable games at discounts, but also get cards just for viewing “Individual Recommendations”. This way you can get 3 badges every day. But there is a drawback: they will be active for only 1 month after receiving. That is, during this time it is recommended to sell them or exchange them for gems. Another option is to improve the profile icon.
In total, today these are all the main ways to get the cherished cards. Naturally, there are additional, not entirely honest methods, but you can get a ban for using them. In the comments, you can tell us which methods are relevant for you, as well as what are the rarest cards you got on Steam and in which games.