LIFE TCG is a wildlife-focused trading card game partnered with WWF that raises money for conservation. Its unique holographic card rarity directly mirrors the actual, real-world population numbers of endangered animals. Players use cards packed with educational facts to battle each other using real animal statistics like speed, weight, and lifespan.
The Core Concept
Every 1st Edition Holo gets printed at a number that matches (or is less than) the animal's real wild population. For example, if you pull a Bengal Tiger holo with population of 3,500, there will ever only be 3,500 holo cards printed.
The Conservation Mission
LIFE TCG was designed around animal conservation from the start.
The game formally partnered with WWF in March 2025 and part of every sale is donated to them. That partnership commits a minimum of £30,000 to WWF over three years, and the 1st Editions of both Mammals and Birds combined have already crossed £10,000 donated.
The Photography set runs on a different model: 10% of profits go to conservation through Fable Fund.
Additionally, the booster packs themselves are paper-based rather than plastic which is very common in the TCG space. After I rip a box, all the opened packs are thrown into the recycling bin.
Origin Story
LIFE TCG launched on Kickstarter November 1, 2022, with a £10,000 goal. It raised £54,132 by December 1, 541% funded. Harry Ewing designed the concept. Emmy Dalas was lead artist on Mammals and now runs a 15-person artist team.
What started as a small two person team in Harry and Emmy has now become a 20-plus person company. LIFE works with local distributors around the world to get the product in our hands. Distribution: ZATU Games in the UK, InDiPro in the US, UniversalCards in Germany, 4X Trading in Italy.
The Core Sets
LIFE has five planned core sets: Mammals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, and Amphibians/Invertebrates. The 1st Edition Mammals set was split into two print runs, with the first release in 2023 and the last release in March 2025. The 1st Edition Birds set was released in full in September 2025. Special editions and promos come out between main set launches.
Gameplay and Collecting
LIFE TCG is both a game and a collecting hobby. Most of the community is collecting: hunting specific species, chasing low-population holos, working toward a full set.
The base game is stat comparison, i.e. similar to the "war" game with a standard playing card deck. Each LIFE TCG card has four stats (Weight, Speed, Population, and Lifespan) and you win by comparing yours against your opponents, which can be up to 4 players total.
The Mammals Special Edition added Continental Balance, a new format that brings continent cards into deck building. This variation of the game is set to be the primary gameplay.
Card Basics and Rarity
Every card has a rarity letter at the bottom left: C, U, R, H, E, or F (Common through Full Art). Card number at bottom right — 12/130 means card 12 of 130. Population-tied print runs only apply to 1st Edition Holos. Reprints and later editions don't carry those printing restrictions.
Product Types
There are three box types, all aimed at different price points.
Gold Booster Box: 36 packs with one guaranteed gold pack containing 10 Holos. Best value per pack.
Starter Box: 10 packs.
Mini Box: 4 packs — low cost entry or easy gift.
Each pack is 10 cards. Commons fill most of them. Full Arts and Holos are what you're hunting.
The Community
The collector community lives on Discord and Instagram. LIFE showed up at a lot of TCG shows in 2025 with more planned for 2026.
What's Next
LIFE is planning to release a minimum of one new core sets per year, with special editions in between. Additional promotional sets, like the Mammals Photography set, are also expected to continue to be released. Long-term plans include a digital companion app and merchandise, though both are early.
Related
- Check out the Rarity and Population guide to understand how print runs work. [In progress]
- See our Card Anatomy guide for a full breakdown of every element on the card.[In progress]
- Explore the Mammals 1st Edition set page.[In progress]
- Explore the Birds 1st Edition set page.[In progress]
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