[1] Shadowverse employs an anime art style with some illustrations reused from the developer's previous title, Rage of Bahamut,[3] an earlier digital collectible card game released in 2012.

The game has been compared favorably with Hearthstone (2014), a difference being that Cygames sought to minimize the impact of randomness on match outcomes.

Another difference is Shadowverse's "Evolve" game mechanic which allows players to grant played cards bonus stats and effects at the cost of an evolution point.

An RPG card game based on the anime, Shadowverse: Champion's Battle was released on the Nintendo Switch in Japan in November 2020.

A physical TCG version of the game published by Bushiroad titled Shadowverse: Evolve was released in Japan on April 26, 2022, and in North America on June 30, 2023.

Shadowverse matches are structured between two players taking turns playing cards from their deck.