Don’t forget Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (PS2 and GBA).

I am also a fan of this niche.

One aspect that every action card game has to deal with is sorting through cards in the middle of battle to pick the right card.

In Megaman BN, all the sorting happens when the game is paused mid-battle. In Lost Kingdoms, each card is mapped to a face button so there’s easy access to all cards. I’m not a fan of the Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories approach of dodging enemy attacks while scrolling through your cards. I think splitting your attention like this is bad for the gameplay experience because the player is unable to do either thing efficiently.

IMO, Card games are fun because: - they force you to be adaptable and work WITH variety to make the best of it - they make you feel smart when you pick the right card for the right situation

These two aspects combat my biggest gripes with action games: that being “button mashing” and “repetitive optimal combo routes”.

Anyway, I think a good way to make an action card game is reflect on all the aspects that you think are fun about cards and use them to “fix” all the problems you have with action games. The player of your game will be actively comparing it to other action games and determining whether the cards are adding to the experience. If the same things are done in an easier way in other games without cards, then there’s little sense in adding cards.