a method of educating includes providing a collectible trading card game with a plurality of trading cards . each card may contain educational information including a consonant , vowel , number or mathematical operator and the cards are used to form a properly spelled word or to form a mathematically correct equation . in some forms , the method includes providing a game with a playing field and a set of game components with game component types having a predetermined power for affecting play of the game by affecting a power , effect , or value of the game component . the level of skill necessary to play the game may be varied by selectively implementing or disregarding the predetermined power of the game components . an educational game includes first and second game components with different expressions , powers , point values , and identifiers for distinguishing game components and facilitating game play .