TCG Card Shop Simulator PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum CPU is an Intel Core i5-3550, which roughly corresponds to the Intel Core i5-750 tier, an old entry-level generation. The minimum GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050, roughly the GTX 1050 2GB tier, also an older entry-level card. The minimum asks for 8GB of RAM and 5GB of storage, and the publisher explicitly states an SSD is not required.
The recommended CPU is an Intel Core i5-6400, which sits in the same old entry-level band. The recommended GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, which falls in the mainstream 1080p class. RAM and storage stay the same at 8GB and 5GB, and an SSD is again not required.
The main gap between the two levels is the graphics card. The recommended GPU is a clear generation ahead of the minimum, so if you want a smoother or higher-detail experience, the GPU is the part to upgrade first. The CPU difference is smaller, since this kind of management simulation usually leans on the GPU more heavily.
The official listing gives no higher-end configuration and no detail on VRAM capacity. Treat the minimum as a baseline that gets the game running, not as a guarantee of a comfortable experience.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build suits players on a tight budget who can accept lower settings. A GTX 1650 4GB or Radeon RX 6500 XT paired with a Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i3-10100F and 16GB of RAM is a sensible starting point. It sits comfortably above the official minimum, though you should not expect high-end visuals.
The mainstream build suits most players who want a comfortable experience. Choose from cards like the GTX 1660 Super, RTX 3050 8GB or RX 5600 XT, paired with a mid-range CPU such as the Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10400, and 16GB of RAM. This tier clearly exceeds the recommended requirement and leaves room for the later stages of the game when your shop grows.
The high build suits players who want higher settings or plenty of headroom. Options include the RTX 3060 Ti, RX 6700 XT or RTX 4060 Ti, with a Ryzen 5 5600 or Core i5-12400 and 16GB or more of RAM. This is well above the official recommendation, and the main benefit is freedom to enable the more demanding options.
All three builds use 16GB of RAM as the floor. The official minimum is 8GB, but a little extra memory keeps things steadier as your store expands.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In a card shop management game, the load usually comes from drawing many objects on screen and running the simulation, not from extreme lighting effects. Shadow quality, volumetric lighting or fog, and the density of objects and characters tend to be the most expensive settings. If performance gets tight, lowering shadows and volumetric effects is usually the quickest fix.
View distance is also worth watching. Higher view distance means more objects to draw. Once your store grows large, reducing it a notch is a common and effective adjustment. Anti-aliasing and post-processing usually have a milder cost and can be kept if you like how they look.
Ray tracing is generally not essential in this type of game. Unless your graphics card has plenty of headroom and you care a lot about lighting detail, turning it off leaves more resources for the simulation itself.
If the game offers DLSS, FSR or XeSS, these upscalers render at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct the image at your target resolution. This can reduce GPU load with only a modest loss in image quality. Check the in-game options to see which upscalers are supported.
Laptops and handheld PCs
Laptop graphics chips often share names with desktop cards, such as the GTX 1650 or RTX 3050, but real performance can be lower because of power limits and cooling. When evaluating a laptop, look at its sustained power and thermal design rather than the model name alone. Under long sessions, a laptop with weak cooling may throttle, which makes performance less consistent.
For best results, play while plugged in with the performance power mode enabled, and keep the laptop well ventilated. Raising the back of the chassis can help airflow. These steps do not change the official requirement picture, but they help the machine behave closer to what you expect.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally are portable platforms that can usually run the game at lower settings and resolutions, with built-in power and performance controls to balance battery life against performance. We have no handheld verification data for this game, so this is general guidance only: start with low settings and adjust upward from there.
Storage and memory
The official minimum RAM is 8GB, but we recommend 16GB in practice. This leaves comfortable headroom for the game and the operating system and avoids noticeable stutter when other programs are open. If your motherboard supports it, install memory in dual-channel mode by filling the correct slot pairs, which increases memory bandwidth.
The official storage figure is 5GB, which covers the base game. When installing, leave extra space for updates and save files so an update does not fail for lack of room.
The publisher states an SSD is not required. An HDD will run the game, but an SSD noticeably shortens loading times and speeds up scene transitions and save loading. If your budget allows, installing the game on an SSD is a worthwhile upgrade.