Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Denis Antonenko of MYTHICAL Playing Cards

Designed by the team at Jumperound, MYTHICAL is a stylish playing cards based on the mythological characters from the World of Mythology card game. This unique deck of cards are very well thought out, for example, every character card has its unique background illustration describing god's environment, and each suit (mythology) has its unique rune used in the ace and pips cards design.

The Hearts are represented by the Greek mythology: Zeus, Aphrodite and Poseidon. Spades, the Norse mythology: presented by Odin, Hel and Thor. Clubs, the Egyptian mythology: presented by Ra, Isis and Horus. Finally, the Diamonds represented by the Slavic mythology: Dazhbog, Lada and Veles.

We reached out to Denis Antonenko and had a chance to talk about Jumperound, the MYTHICAL deck and their design process.

For those of us who don’t know, tell us a little about yourself and Jumperound.
Jumperound is a full-time creative laboratory and a hub for talented people. We have a good expertise in illustration, graphic design, creative strategy, gaming and psychology. Our goal is to create simple but well-designed and perfectly crafted products (especially games, art gifts and useful accessories). Our mission is to make good ideas come true and global.

Can you describe the MYTHICAL deck and why you’re passionate about it?
We are great fans of mythology and various pantheons. We missed the Age of Mythology PC game and decided to create the greatest mythological card game. The World of Mythology card game united 60 gods and goddesses and was successfully funded on Kickstarter in June. Then we got many messages from our backers asking us to create playing cards with the same art.

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?
Using 14 characters from World of Mythology we still had to create a new art to make Mythical unique and beautiful. So we illustrated 4 main runes for Aces and pips and 12 backgrounds for K, Q and J cards describing gods' environment. Reaching stretch goals will automatically make Mythical more qualitative (lamination, finish, varnish, embossing, foil printing etc.). Basic prototype was sent to reviewers and got high ratings. So the final version of the deck will be awesome.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
We're in love with golden runes and frames and hope we'll reach the foil printing stretch goal to make them really golden.

What are a few key elements and principles you incorporated into your project that you think future Kickstarter creators could benefit from knowing? 
Think out of the box. Yes, our deck can be criticized by poker players for non-standard design, but we create something unique and it cannot be traditional. We don't like restrictions. We always want some fun!

What’s next for Jumperound? Are you planning to release more playing card decks in the future?
Yes! We adore this creative job and have many ideas. At the moment our designers work on new card game and artistic project for kids. But we'll never stop to think about playing cards.

Finally, what are your favourite playing cards?
Omnia, Leonardo, Arcana, Kings of India... Lots of them :)

Thank you for your time, Denis and all the best! To support MYTHICAL Playing Cards, head to Kickstarter.


There are 2 editions available, the Classic edition with black backs and a white background on the front and the Old-world edition, which imitates ancient paperworks, available once the stretch goal of $7500 met. Pledge starts from $12.