It's been over five years since we last rounded up our favorite card decks. A lot of cool stuff has come to our attention since then, so we're revisiting this theme with another collection of interesting and gorgeous decks listed below.
Fictive Kin's “Amigos” Decks »
($10–15 per deck)
The idea behind these decks is simple: three beautiful themed playing card decks by three awesome and crazy-talented designers:
- Space Cards! by Alonzo Felix ($15)
- Royal Cards! by Frank Chimero ($10)
- Cat Cards! by Jessica Hische ($15)
As their site clearly (and truthfully) states, “Supplies are limited. Grab ’em while you can!”
Lunar Saloon “STARDECK” »
($15)
STARDECK is a sci-fi themed deck designed by Alex and Meg Griendling of Minneapolis studio Lunar Saloon, wherein each suit represents an archetypal science fiction trope:
- ♣️ Clubs = Space Marines
- ♦️ Diamonds = Mega Corporation
- ♠️ Spades = Aliens
- ♥️ Hearts = Robots
Watch their intro video to see how much thought went into the deck’s presentation and storyline:
The 8Bit Deck »
($15)
Carefully crafted by character designer and pixel artist Michael B. Myers Jr. — aka “Drawsgood” — the 8Bit Deck is a pixel art playing deck inspired by the PICO-8 fantasy console system. (If you're confused by the term “fantasy console,” here's an explainer.)
Myers designed every card and the tuck box pixel-by-pixel using the Aseprite sprite editor, and used the fantastic PICO-8 font — which you can grab an unofficial version of here — for all card text. We like this little fact about the font:
Each number and letter are only 4 pixels tall by 3 pixels wide, but still offer great legibility.
theory11 Star Wars Light- and Dark-Side Decks »
($10 per deck)
Whether you’re on the side of the Jedi or you’d rather channel your inner Sith, then {Obi-Wan voice} these are the decks you’re looking for.
These Star Wars-themed decks are among the coolest we've ever seen, featuring two different decks (sold separately) that are respectively based on the Light and Dark Sides of the Force. Let's take a look.
The Light Side
Features Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, R2-D2, and fighters from the Rebel fleet. Characters depicted include Rey, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and more.
The Dark Side
Features Darth Vader’s lightsaber, the Death Star, and Empire starships. Characters depicted include Palpatine, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, and more.
Are these super cool or what? They're also printed on premium paper from sustainable forests with vegetable-based inks and starch-based laminates. Basically, they're quality through and through.
Junior “Dragon & Tiger” Hanafuda-Inspired Decks »
(Still in production; release date TBD)
Artist and designer Louie Mantia is the brains behind the company Junior, where he's currently working on producing Japanese-inspired decks of hanafuda cards.?
In case you're unfamiliar with hanafuda — as we were ourselves when we first heard about this project on Kickstarter last September — the Junior site has a dedicated page explaining the history and design of the artform:
Hanafuda flower cards are Japanese playing cards that can be used to play many different games.
There are 48 cards in hanafuda [separated into four ranks], depicting the flora and fauna of Japan.
The 12 suits in hanafuda are also referred to as months, and each is represented by a flower or plant.
Mantia's new interpretations of these flower cards are designed so anyone can learn to play, and we're very intrigued by their artwork, the whole concept/aesthetic…everything.
While the Kickstarter project more than succeeded its funding goal and they estimated a shipping date of February 2021, the Dragon and Tiger decks are still in production as of this writing and we recommend keeping an eye on their Twitter page for any possible upcoming announcements.
The Seers “Aspectu V2: Early Sunset” Cardistry Deck »
($10)
Created specifically with cardistry in mind (though still perfectly functional for playing card games with), The Seers' Aspectu V2: Early Sunset is a stylish playing card deck with unique artwork and a color scheme inspired by the evening sky.
Cardists who pick up this deck will enjoy the fact that, because of how the artwork is designed, both the fronts and backs of the cards can be fanned in either direction to create eyecatching effects:
If cardistry isn't your thing and you just like collecting neat decks, you'll still dig all the little design details, like the striking pip arrangements:
Even the tuck box is visually exciting, especially when displayed in threes:
I recommend letting yourself be hypnotized by the render video below from when the deck was on Kickstarter:
Hurricane Windproof & Waterproof Playing Cards »
($20–22, depending on color choice)
Sometimes the weather outside is just so beautiful and you can't stand sitting indoors any longer, so you get this fun little idea to go out there and play a nice game of cards with someone. Maybe it even works for a few minutes — then the wind kicks up, and it all goes wrong.
Hurricane Playing Cards were made for just this sort of thing. The cards in the deck are made of plastic instead of paper and basically have the thickness of credit cards, with each one weighing a few times more than a standard card. That way, the wind can't just blow them away while you're trying to enjoy your game, dang it!
Their plastic construction also makes them resistant to water and other liquids. If you spill a drink like coffee or soda on them, a quick rinse in the sink sorts that out nicely.
Take 'em to the beach or park, play by the pool or on your porch/deck/balcony, or even bring them on a boat. They work well just about anywhere.
The cards' own website seems to be out of stock for both decks as of this writing, but their Etsy shop is fired up and ready to go.