Summary

Genio is an incredibly strange card game by TELE-V, combining Marvel superheroes and educational cards. Gameplay is basically rock-paper-scissors.

The game was available in 36-card starter decks and 9-card booster packs.

Card Types

• Hero Card - A card featuring a Marvel superhero. Each also has a type and a numerical value.
• Data Card - A card featuring an educational item (like the space station, meerkats, or a Mayan temple). Each also has a superhero, a type, and a numerical value.

Note: Nothing distinguishes a Hero card from a Data card, despite them having different game effects. You just have to know which ones are superheroes.

Sets and Decks

The game has one set, with 360 different cards. Holographic cards were available (apparently 1 in every 111 packs (!!!!)). It appears there was only one rarity of card.

The rules also make reference to a "Genio Album" which has factoid questions corresponding to each of the 360 cards. The album can be used during gameplay to challenge a losing card, by forcing your opponent to answer an educational question.

Deck Composition and Contents

Starter Decks

Starter decks (called "MegaDecks") were available in three colors (green, orange, and purple). I honestly don't know whether the cards were fixed (or varied by color), or whether they were fully randomized. Each deck includes 36 cards and a rulebook.

Deck Rarity Analysis

(Would need to understand the composition of starter decks to do this analysis.)

Alan's Thoughts On The Game

I just... what?

The gameplay of this game is rock-paper-scissors (much like the Clone Wars Adventures TCG), also using a "power" number on each card to break ties. Gameplay-wise, obviously, this is very silly. There's maybe some strategy because each player drafts a hand of 12 cards to start the game and chooses what to play each turn, but I'm really reaching here.

But the cards! The cards are the most bizarre combination I've ever seen of Marvel superheroes with educational cards, such as a card for the Aurora Borealis with The Hulk on it, or the Mars Pathfinder with Silver Surfer on it. There's sometimes at least some thematic connection between the two, but it's also just as often a seemingly random pairing.

If you have the Genio Album, rather than just a rock-paper-scissors battle, it becomes somewhat of a knowledge/trivia battle, but each card seems to only have one factoid, so...

Also ill-thought-through: Playing the game requires 12 cards per player, but booster packs are 9 cards. It would've been smart to make it so you could just play the game with two boosters.

In general, this seems like a product that was directed more toward parents than kids: Don't want your kids to play a TCG where you violently engage monsters in combat? Play this educational card game instead!

What.