Over the last year Brian Lee of Warpunk Games has been working on a playing card project called Zombie Black Playing Cards. What began a little over a year ago as just a design project that spawned from a printing class Brian was teaching at the Art Institute of Indianapolis, has evolved into so much more with not only 100% custom designed cards but also games as well. The project initially launched unsuccessfully in the Spring of this year. However, Brian has since revamped the project and just this past week the card project successfully reached its funding goal on Kickstarter.com turning this year long process into a success. The project is still in funding phase for another 10 days when it will ceases funding on October 10.
Click here to see the project on Kickstarter.
According to Brian the reason behind the zombie theme is simple. Brian told us the following, “I am a huge fan of the Zombie genre and during my research into playing cards, I found that I really enjoyed the look of the more classic style of playing cards, especially the French version. There are lots of great images online to use as a reference, so I recreated this classic style, only this time with a zombie twist to them. I wanted the cards to be somewhat gruesome, but not over the top like you see with a lot of zombie decks. I feel that they get almost to the point of being cartoony.”
Initially set to be printed by the United States Playing Card Company, Brian changed direction on his second go around and the cards will now be printed by QP Group, a reputable game manufacturer for over 30 years. For those that are unaware, according to the the QP group website, the company has “an aggregate production floor area of 647,000 square feet, a skilled workforce of some 4,000 people” and some of the most modern day high tech equipment and certifications in the world. These guys mean business.
As mentioned, Brian also moved focus toward game design. Regarding card game design, Brian told us that he didn’t want to just create collector’s items with his card decks but that he wanted to make cards that people wanted to play with. Brian said “I have designed my cards specifically with card games in mind. I use large pips and bright contrasting colors for the suits. I am also using a playing card stock that is 310gsm. which is the same as casino grade playing cards. Every deck of cards that I have funded will come with a card game that you can play with using my cards or your own favorite deck. If we hit a stretch goal, then I will have the funds to produce additional cards and items to go along with the deck that will bring the games to a new level with a theme added and new strategies.” It is clear that Brian is in it to create a long term brand complete with cards and card games.
For his first game, Brian has created a game called Grave Digger. Primarily a social game, Grave Digger is a push your luck game and great to play in between other games or in social establishments. According to Brian, “The official printed rules that you get with your deck of Zombie Black playing cards will also tell you how to make Grave Digger into a drinking or gambling game.” Click here for the rules to the game.
Here are the images of the Zombie Black cards:
