I find it surprising that there's still some people who have no idea what Steam trading cards are, so I found it to be a good idea to make a little guide so users can better understand what they are and what they are used for.


WHAT ARE STEAM TRADING CARDS?

Like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, Steam trading cards are cards that represent the game that they are for though they serve no purpose within the game. Not all game will have trading cards because it's up to the developers to decide whether they want to issue a set of cards and if they do, each set will have at least 5 cards while some can have up to 10 cards or more. In addition to basic trading cards, there are also foil cards which are shiny variations of each card and can sometimes be about 2 to 5 times rarer than their standard counterparts.


HOW DO I GET TRADING CARDS?

There are four main ways to get your hands on these cards, and the easiest of these ways is through card drops. Each game that has trading cards has card drops and how this works is that as you play the game, after a random amount of time, you will randomly receive a card. It is impossible to complete a whole set through card drops because on average, a game will only drop 3 to 6 cards with the actual number being based on the total number of cards in a set. It is also possible to receive duplicate cards through drops.

The next way is to buy them in the Market. In order to buy cards in the market you need to have money in your steam wallet and the price of a card will vary on multiple factors such as the rarity of a card, the number of cards in a set, the game itself, and of course, the price the seller sets. Cards for certain games could cost as little as 4 or 5 cents while it's possible to find a game where base cards cost as high as 50 cents to a dollar or more. Foil cards cost even more and can also be bought in the marketplace. If you're lucky, you can find some of the cheaper foil cards for 10 cents or so while there are some games where it's impossible to get a foil card without spending more than 10 dollars.

Trading cards with other users is another way to get cards and is quite easy because on almost any given game, there will be a bunch of threads where users are looking for certain cards for that game or have certain cards. If you need one more card to complete a set and have an extra card from that set or a card from another set that someone else could use, then trading could be the best way to get more cards.

Booster Packs are another way to get extra cards for a game and come with 3 random cards. You can trade for Booster Packs, you can buy them in the market for an average of 11 cents a dollar or more, or you can craft them yourself. You can craft Booster Packs by spending gems, and on average depending on the game, 1000 gems will get you a pack. You can get gems by either trading with other users or converting cards, backgrounds, and other items you have in your inventory. If you're lucky and you have already used up all your card drops for a certain game, you may just randomly receive a Booster Pack.

There are of course some restrictions to buying and trading. When you add a new form of payment, you may be restricted from using the market for a week and if you access Steam from a new device, you may be restricted from trading as well.


WHAT ARE TRADING CARDS FOR?

Aside for a few other special ways, collecting trading cards are the only way that you can get badges. By using up a full set of trading cards, you will craft a badge which you can show on your profile, and every badge crafted gives you some EXP to help level up your profile. Every game has 5 levels of basic badges, once you complete a set for any game the first time, you will get the lowest level badge for that game and 100 EXP. Then, each time you complete the same set over again, you will receive the next highest badge as well as another 100 EXP until you have accumulated all 5 of the basic badges.

In addition to the 5 levels of basic badges, you also have the Foil badge which is the highest level badge for any game and is awarded when you craft all of the foil badges for a given set. Unlike the standard badges, there's only one level of Foil badge and you don't need to already have had a badge in order to craft this one. Like the basic badges, each foil badge will only award the user 100 EXP.

Every time you craft a badge, you also get a a few cool items for you to mess around with. First you get a coupon which takes a random amount of money off a random game in the Steam Store and lasts for a bout a week or so. You will also get 1 Emoticon and 1 Background with each crafted badge for you to use. Each emoticon and background will be random based on how rare they are and vary from common to uncommon to rare and it's possible that after completing all the badges that you get the same one a couple of times.

The emoticons can be used, as well as the backgrounds on your profile, but you can also sell both of them in the market, you can trade them to other users, or you can convert them into gems with the rarer the item, the more gems you will receive for them.


ARE TRADING CARDS IMPORTANT?

If you just want Steam so you can play games and talk with other members, then no, trading cards are not important. However if you are the Steam user who cares about their profile and features, then trading cards can be vital. Aside for a few special events, crafting badges are the only way for you to gain EXP which is the only way to gain new profile levels and as you gain more levels, you have access to more features for your profile.

For instance, one of the first benefits you could experience when leveling up is more room to add friends because after each level you are given a few extra friend spots on your profile. At level 16, you will have just under 400 slots for friends. After every 10 levels, you also get various showcases to add to your profile which will show off various aspects of your profile such as favorite game and group, achievements, badges, screenshots, items, items for trade, and more.


That's really all there is to Steam Trading cards. Hope anyone who reads this finds this to be helpful.

greenluigi : You're the one who asked me about this, so I hope this helps.

We were all there once.. I think i spent a good 2-3 months telling people this exact information.. but in like 2-3 sentences...

zanderlex : This guide is extremely helpful! It helped me a lot. Thanks for posting this!

You lack one thing to say about the cards... 
as you say with the cards you can make badges and badges give you experience an more level...

you not said that: Any have a percentage of get a "Booster Pack" every week before "drop reset"

Level 1: +2% drop rate
Level 5: +10% drop rate
Level 10: +20% drop rate

The more level you have more increases the drop rate... here all info: http://steamcommunity.com/tradingcards/faq

For example: Now i have lv55 on Steam = i have 105% probability that give me an Booster Pack every week
...the other day sold a Booster Pack for 8 dollars and every week one appear

UraNuS : Ok, that wouldn't be my guide then if I said that though.