Designed by TwoGeeksGaming, the Mighty Super Heroes Playing Cards are a Super Hero themed deck inspired by the superheroes and villains from comic books, graphic novels and movies that we all love and enjoy.
This unique deck features minimalist art style and conveyed with simple lines, black & whites and solid bold coloring. A lot of thought have gone into the design of the deck, for example figure art is used on the 10’s, Jacks, Queens, Kings, Aces, and Jokers. These are super heroes that sort of have the look of mini detailed stick figures. While on the 2-9 cards, Element art is used to depict various elements & attributes of a super hero or the overall feel and look of a super hero.
The genius about this deck is that stick figures are generic enough and the elements have a very broad scope. The shapes, lines and colors integrates nicely to characterise a particular hero or villain and are easily recognisable.
Just prior to the launch, we were able to catch-up with Steven Fields for a quick Q&A about himself, TwoGeeksGaming, the inspiration & design evolution behind the Mighty Super Heroes deck and his future plans for the series.
For those of us who don’t know, tell us a little about yourself and Two Geeks Gaming.
Hello. My name is Steven Fields. I grew up in Orange County California where I still reside today with my wife and family. I have always been the type of person with a creative and curious mind… even as a little kid with my Lincoln Logs and Legos. My main passion was to be a film director and screenwriter throughout the years. So I think I have always had that flair towards the visual mediums. I’ve been a game designer and graphic artist for roughly the last 10 years working on both board and card games for several companies, as well as, my own projects.
TwoGeeksGaming was formed a few years back by myself and my brother Jon. We started the company because we wanted to develop and release our own games without any restrictions or outside constraints. My friend, Greg “Jazzy Bear” Brown, came aboard soon afterwards and that formed our little family.
Can you describe Mighty Super Heroes Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it?
This is our first release into the playing card world. Mighty Super Heroes is a 54 card poker style deck of cards who’s main overall theme centers around that of super heroes and villains. As a little kid growing up, I was always into movies and comic books and that never changed as I got older. I am still into that stuff today. So it was only natural that my first release be something that I have always been into. Something I know. Something I love.
Mighty Super Heroes is the first deck in a series of themed decks we call “SMArt Playing Cards” or Simply Minimalist Art. It is meant to be an ongoing series of playing cards. Each time we release a new deck it will have a new theme… this first one being super heroes.
Walk us through the process you took to design this unique deck. How did you come out with the idea and how did you get to this finished product?
I’ve always loved the pop art movement and minimalist art styles throughout the years. We knew we wanted to do something around super heroes, we knew we wanted to break out of the standard style of poker cards… so it just seemed to be a natural fit to use that clean look of minimalist art. We had a theme, we had the style we were shooting for, then it was just a matter of what characters we wanted to convey on the deck. Most everything else fell into place.
What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
That is a good question. We had most of the pieces in play on the deck. We, early in development, knew we wanted the face cards to have “Figures” or characters and that the pip cards would have more “Elements” or an overall general feeling of a super hero… but there just seemed to be something missing. It was lacking something that gave you a feeling you were looking at a comic book or the old time super hero tv shows and cartoons. Then one of us came up with the idea to use what we call the Kapow background. It is the lines you see behind the characters and art. That gave you the feeling like the old school “Biff”, “Bam”, “Boom” and “Kapow”. Once that was added into the mix, it just worked and we knew it.
With so many playing card projects competing for funding, why should potential backers choose your deck?
Well, I think our deck is something a bit different and really unique. It has an interesting overall theme and a different art style than you usually see. If you love super heroes and comic books, then I think most people will love this deck. Something that harkens back to your childhood. I guess the one thing that we wanted to accomplish when we set out to do this… was to make a great poker deck but it had to be fun to use as well. To put a smile on your face.
What’s next for Two Geeks Gaming? Are you planning to release more playing card decks in the future?
If funding goes well with this deck, we will immediately launch into Mighty Super Heroes deck 2. This will be a new deck with all new characters and art.
We also have two other decks in the SMArt Series ready to go for 2015. These will have completely different “Themes” but in the same minimalist art style. We don’t want to give away just yet what those themes are… but it could be Sci Fi Movies or Action Heroes, Horror Movies or Comedies. You will love them though.
Outside of the SMArt Series of playing cards, we have a few other poker card decks planned that are a bit more traditional in tone. We are even using some of the best artists around for one of those decks. Truly stunning and beautiful stuff.
Our goal is to make the best games we can. Stuff we would like to use and play. Our poker decks are just the start of things. We will also be releasing some board games and card games as well.
Finally, what are your favourite playing cards?
I personally, for some reason, am always drawn towards decks that break away from that stereotypical style and look. Stuff that isn’t traditional. That being said, I think you can find beauty in most decks if you just look for it.
But, I really loved Delirium from Giovanni and Thirdway Industries. Just an interesting and beautifully designed deck… and his upcoming Omnia set is just gorgeous. Steve Minty’s Muertos series is another one in my library that I truly love.
Thank you for your time Steven and all the best! At the time of writing, the project is only 21% funded with 27 days to go. If want to support the Mighty Super Heroes deck, you can find it on Kickstarter here.
Pledge starts from $15 and the Mighty Super Heroes Playing Cards will be printed by the Legends Playing Card Co. There are add-ons available such as T-Shirt and Uncut Sheet. Also, there are multiple rewards waiting to be unlocked once the project hits its stretch goals- embossed tuck, custom seal and limited edition coin.
Don’t miss out!
