The Golden Age Playing Cards by Agitcom is a beautifully hand-illustrated deck currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. Headed by designer Sviatoslav Pashchuk, the fantasy-styled deck is inspired by Neil Gaiman’s Stardust novel and film featuring strong Kings, gorgeous Queens and romantic Jacks. Here are 5 things you didn’t know about the Golden Age Playing Cards.
1. It took more than half a year to create this deck. All the characters were first hand drawn and then digitally painted, so each face card has been in production for over a week. According to Sviatoslav, “I started with the Queens – they are my favorite cards of this deck.”
2. There is a riddle hidden in the deck. If the most observant players look attentively at the cards, they will see that certain Queens and Kings have some similar detail. “I won’t say what it is, but if you find this detail – you’ll know which Queen betrays her King with the other King.”
3. Old-Slavic classical patterns from the sacred buildings of Eastern Europe were used in the design of this deck. “I’m a big fan of architecture and I’ve visited many churches that inspired me to copy authentic techniques of ornaments that had been used in ancient times.”
4. All the characters have names. “These are real names that have been used in the antiquity. Usually, they were of Romanesque or Germanic origins. I am very sorry that these names are almost forgotten or adapted because they were really very beautiful.”
5. The star that falls into the hands of the protagonist is the main theme of the film and the book of Neil Gaiman. “It changes the life of the main character, although at first, he didn’t understand what a gift he has received In this deck there are a lot of symbols depicting a star – each face card has a so-called wind rose in the center, and on the back of the tuck box you can see the cross-shaped ancient symbol, which is also a star image.”
At the time of writing, the Golden Age project is currently 218% funded with 26 days to go. Pledge starts from $13 and the deck will be printed by NPCC. There are also multiple rewards that are waiting to be unlocked once the project hits its stretched goals. The most notable is the Winter Edition deck at $7k (unlocked!). Add-ons such as the full-color art print and art sets are available.
