Less Than 48 Hours on Kickstarter, The Windmill Back Playing Cards!

The Windmill Back is the fifth deck created by Arcadia and is inspired by the aesthetics of old, worn-down windmills. According to the designer, Christian, 

I created the Windmill Back because I simply love the aesthetics of worn down windmills. I adore how powerful they look where they stand, usually alone and not in use. Still, they were essential for farmers back in the days when they didn't have advanced machinery to help them with their work. Windmills were a combination of architectural and engineering brilliance and proof of how human civilizations were able to develop due to new inventions like the windmill. Now, however, these old windmills are mostly just postcard material. I guess you can call this project a tribute to these old giants. So when you hold these cards in your hand in the near future, you can think of the historical importance of these magnificent constructions. 

Currently seeking funds on Kickstarter, this vintage style deck comes in two different editions: azure blue and claret purple. Each Edition of the deck will also have a gilded version with gold foil edges. 

Inside, the courts are based on the same early 1900's style that can be seen on the previous Arcadia deck, Harmony Back, but customized to a windy theme that suits the deck. 

The aces in the Windmill Back are all decorated and incorporate the overall theme of the deck. The ace of spades is, as tradition goes, the most detailed and features a windmill inside the pip along with vintage drawn ornaments. 

 

Also included are two identical jokers, except one of them is juggling with a 7 of hearts reveal that you can use for magic. They are jokers drawn in a traditional style and they are true to the windmill theme as they are blowing on whirligig toys with leaves blowing around. 

The Windmill Back will be printed by Cartamundi and the tuck boxes are gold foiled, embossed, and come with an old stamp style seal. The letterpressed tucks will be made by Boschiero & Newton in Italy. Available NOW on Kickstarter for $14.

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Deck View: The Ultimate Deck

Art. Design. Collaboration.

The Ultimate Deck was first released around the 2012 holiday season in a collaboration between Dan and Dave Buck and packaging design firm, Stranger & Stranger. The deck was created as a way for Stranger & Stranger to celebrate the 2012 work year as it was a pivotal year in new package design.

The deck took over a year to produce as every single playing card in the deck contains a completely different custom design edge to to edge, from creepy artwork to cute and funny designs. The subtle one-way back design is a flat version of the art on the tuck case. 

The tuck case comes with a classic black matte finish with glossy embossing. It features nostalgic design elements that give the impression of holding an ancient book. The centerpiece is a glossy silver embossed two-way "Stranger" given the effect to create the impression of it being a two-way design. The tuck case features a stamp-like seal that is reminiscent of very early decks printed by The United States Playing Card Company.

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Thermo Solids Cardistry Deck by Lotus in Hand Drops TODAY!

When you think you have seen it all, Taiwanese cardistry group Lotus in Hand dropped an insane teaser that blew everyone's mind. The 1-minute video features their latest deck Termo Solids. 

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As the name suggests, the deck is printed with thermochromic ink, a type of dye that changes color when temperatures increase or decrease. 

The heat-sensitive card back can be seen changing color from black to lime green when fingers or hand contacts the deck. Very cool! The face cards are pretty much standard and the pips and indices come with a lime green colorway. 

Each order of 10 decks or more will come with a custom brick box printed with thermochromic ink. Also, Lotus in Hand will also be giving away Thermo Solid and OG Solid's 1/1 uncut NFTs to two random buyers of 10 decks or more. Holders of uncut NFTs will be granted early access to future releases. 

Thermo Solids will be available today (22nd January) 12pm ET on lotusinhand.com. Printed in Taiwan by Dex Playing Card Co. Print run of 1001.

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Card Game: Control by Keymaster Games

Stuck at home and looking for a fun and fast-paced card game? Check out Control by Keymaster Games. The sci-fi-themed CCG combines the mechanics of a traditional card game with an intense competitive strategic gameplay that will keep you coming back for more. This is our first card game review in a while and we will try to feature a card game review monthly.

Here's the premise for Control: Players are time travelers who’ve been caught in a rupture in spacetime and displaced outside time. Each player must use Fuel Cells to refuel their own time machine to escape and at the same time stop other players from refueling theirs first. Whoever does so first closes the rupture, leaving all other travelers lost outside time.

SETUP

Control is very simple to learn and play. Each game round takes between 5-10 minutes. The goal is to close the rupture by reaching a Fuel Cell charge of 21 or more by laying down number cards in your play area adding up to 21 or higher at the same time stopping other players from achieving the goal by using different ability cards.

Depending on the number of players, the deck and discard pile is shared in the middle for 3-4 players while for 2 player games, each has its own. The deck consists of:

• 20x Stable cards (1-5 Fuel count)
• 28x Unstable cards (4-10 Fuel count)

Each card has a name and ability that will be triggered when played. Each player starts with 4 cards.


GAMEPLAY

Basically, on a turn, the player draws a card and perform one of the action below:

• Draw a Card
• Play a Card: To increase fuel count by playing Stable or Unstable cards). Abilities are triggered when played.
• Discard an unstable card: Discard an unstable card from your hand. Abilities are triggered when played.
• Diffuse a card: Discard a card from your hand and force an opponent to discard one of their fuel count. The number value of the card must be equal to or higher than the card to discard.

After the action is resolved, the play turn continues to the next player clockwise. Whoever has a fuel count of 21 or higher at the end of their turn wins!

Sounds pretty straight forward but once you get the hang of the game, there will be more strategy involved. You have to weigh the opportunity costs of your decisions, for example, high-value cards are very tempting to use to get to 21 quickly, but at the same time tempting to use for the powerful abilities. These unstable cards will be discarded once played.

Meanwhile, if one of the players is getting too close to winning, and in order to stop him you may need to discard a high-value card to force them to discard a card from their fuel count... and because you only have one action each turn, is it better just to wait and draw a card to give you more options in the next few turns?

Due to the fast-paced nature of the game, you will have to think fast as each turn will come quickly.




OVERALL

Control is a great game if you are looking for a short and sharp game. The sci-fi time traveling is almost irrelevant due to the fact that we focused on the number, card color, and reading the ability of each card.

The game flow is fast and there is never a dull moment once everyone gets the hang of it. Not only do you have to plan your moves a few turns ahead, but you also have to be aware of what the other players are doing... or else, it will be a short game.

The game consists of 54 cards and it is very convenient to bring this and play anywhere. The artwork is beautiful! I was initially drawn to the game due to the stunning gold foil on the black tuck box. The linework on the tuck and card backs are definitely eye-catching... sort of what you get from Theory11 decks. The face cards have a slight 60's sci-fi vintage feel which fits the time-traveling theme really well.

Definitely, a great game for game nights if you want something different to keep everyone engaged and entertained. Available from barnesandnoble.com for $12.99.

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