The Modern Games Deck

Mechanics for over a dozen modern board games have been condensed into a single poker deck. These cards pack a lot of information into a minimal design that can be understood at a glance. They are equally usable upside down, mostly obscured in a hand, or laid out across the table. This deck is the most fun per gram anywhere.

• Cards

  $15

  56 cards in a tuck box
  4 instruction cards

• Cards and Tokens

  $25

  56 cards
  4 instruction cards
  100 tokens in 4 colors
  1 tens d-10
  velvet token bag
  metal storage box
  

What you can do

• Make a grid of words and guess the secret word
• Play a traditional card game: Try cuttle, haggis, sheepshead, or doppelkopf
• Use the face cards as characters in your favorite game
• Play games that require numbered cards
• Many forums suggest even more game variations for card decks

On the Cards

• 110 unique words for secret-word games like charades, pictionary, etc.
• Numbers 1-36
• 4 jokers
• All the spades are negative-sentiment cards and hearts are positive-sentiment to double as voting-mechanic cards in traitor games
• Face cards include capture symbols
• Half way markings enable you to easily build a grid of words
• PLUS one brand new and unique party game invented just for this deck: Manticore! What object is 20% horse and 80% carrot?

Design Notes

Every marking must be able to be either the most important thing or invisible, no matter which elements you're using. These cards carefully balance whitespace and layout so that elements are placed in optimal locations for how they're likely to be used and so that no other elements conflict with them in terms of style or location. The pips have an increasing visual weight so that low cards are intuitively distinguishable from high cards. The varied designs ensure that you never mix up a 6 for a 7. Visual separation and center placement of the 1-36 numbers ensure that you never mistake the 7 of hearts for a value 7 card.