Cockatrice
Free, open-source virtual tabletop for playing collectible card games online with friends or strangers.
- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 3
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Cockatrice
Cockatrice is a desktop app for playing tabletop card games over the internet, used mostly by Magic: The Gathering players who want to test decks and play casual games without buying cards. You download the client, let its Oracle tool fetch a card database, build or import a deck, and then either playtest alone offline or join one of the community-run public servers. The game server is designed so that players can't tamper with the game state, which matters when you're playing strangers. Unlike rules-enforcing clients, Cockatrice is a manual tabletop: you move cards, tap and count life yourself, just as you would at a kitchen table. That makes it flexible but slower than an official digital game. It is free and open source under the GPL, with builds for Windows, macOS and several Linux distributions, and anyone can run their own Servatrice server for a private group. There's no mobile version, and the app's look is functional rather than polished.
Best for: Card game players who want to playtest decks and play casual games online for free.
Pros and cons
What works
- Free and open source, with no cards to buy
- Offline single-player mode for testing decks
- You can host your own server for a private group
- Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux
Why people leave
- No rules engine: players handle all game actions by hand
- No mobile or browser version
- Public servers are run by volunteers, so availability varies
Top Cockatrice alternatives
See all 3- 1
PlayingCards.io76.8Free browser tabletop for card games with friends; quick to set up via a shared link, no install.
- 2
Tabletop Simulator68.8Paid physics sandbox on Steam that can host card games plus thousands of community-made board games.
- 3
Tabletopia64.8Browser-based tabletop with many licensed board and card games, no download needed.
Why people left Cockatrice
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Reviews
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Cockatrice: common questions
Is Cockatrice free?
Yes. Cockatrice is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.
Is Cockatrice open source?
Yes. The source code is on GitHub at Cockatrice/Cockatrice. You can also run it on your own server.
What platforms does Cockatrice run on?
Cockatrice is available for Windows, macOS, Linux and Self-hosted.
What are the best alternatives to Cockatrice?
The highest-ranked Cockatrice alternatives right now are PlayingCards.io, Tabletop Simulator and Tabletopia. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.