The premise of the new scheme will reward you for simply playing your favourite games and aims to run parallel to the achievement system, so breathe a sigh of relief as you won’t need to kill 53,593 zombies to get the good stuff. Cards are being dished out for playtime with the card being themed towards the game you’re in (You aren’t going to get a Pudge card for winning on De_Dust) and the goal is to collect an entire set of cards to earn a reward. The current list of participating games is as follows:

• CS:GO
• Team Fortress 2
• Dota 2
• Portal 2
• Half-Life 2
• Don't Starve

More titles are scheduled to be added as the system progresses.

There is a twist though as you will only be able to acquire about half of all the cards from a game meaning you will need to barter for the remaining cards from other steam members in order to fill up your sets. Would-be hagglers will be able to make full use of the steam marketplace to trade with peace of mind and this will no doubt see a sharp rise in activity as these items hit the public.

Once you’ve obtained your desired set of cards you can convert them into a badge which will get you a few goodies. The badge itself will serve as a permanent marker of achievement on your steam profile, much like the holiday badges from previous events. Along with this players will also get:

• a random emoticon item created for the game you can use in chat or discussions;
• a random profile background item created for the game that can use on your Steam Community profile
• a chance to get a discount coupon for a different game or DLC
• 100XP, which may increase your Steam Level

Currently the system is in a closed beta state and, Valve being Valve, have opted for a DOTA 2 style wave invitation system. You can mark yourself a willing participant by joining this official steam group here. If successful you’ll get access to the trading card scheme early, as well as a few extra beta invites for your friends too. Want to know more? Check out their official page here.