Designer Custom Card Games Are The Newest Art Form

By Shari Spiro

One of our clients  Emil – has a name that reminds me of a book I read when I was a kid – Emil and the Detectives.  I have no memory of what the book was about – but from the first day Emil emailed me – (Say that three times fast) I knew he was going to be special and memorable.  When he sent in his art for the decks it was all confirmed.  This is a cool deck and in Emil’s words – it fits into a new genre of playing cards – it is a designer deck and WOW check out the GREAT GRAPHICS!!!

From quirky custom card playing card games about flower gardening to sprawling board games simulating epic space battles, the past five years have seen an explosion of designer games angling to become the next SETTLERS OF CATAN, DOMINION or CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY.  And while this renaissance has flooded the market with more titles than even the most die-hard fan could ever find time to play, every month some new game manages to hit its KickStarter goal by offering players some new twist on the old classics.

Into this friendly fray, our client Emil will soon be launching his own creation, a sci-fi-themed trick-capturing game tentatively entitled STARLIGHT ARMADA.  The game involves players playing cards of four suits – Warships, Smugglers, Miners and Explorers – in order to capture “planets” (numbered tokens) in various “solar systems” (the pots the players play cards into).

His friend Pete McLennon, who normally creates art for clients such as Disney and Nickelodeon, did a phenomenal job illustrating the game’s components.  While the images below are merely half-finished prototypes, they’re already stunning to look at (the final cards will feature sci-fi equivalents of the kings, queens and jacks that decorate standard playing cards). Emil  hopes  to finance via Kickstarter and manufacture through AdMagic, who, Emil says, ” did a fantastic job printing the prototypes.”  We love him.

For now the game’s Facebook page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/StarlightArmada  Again, STARLIGHT ARMADA is just a working title – if any of you can suggest a better one, there could be a free set in your future.  And if you or anyone you know is a game publisher, we’d love to arrange a demonstration.  Feel free to contact Emil directly at  emil@emilheidkamp.com

Tagged as: Custom card games, custom game cards, Playing Card Games