Card Game: Unlock! Night of the Boogeymen

This is our third Unlock! game after the enjoyable Unlock! Squeek & Sausage and the intriguing Unlock! The Nautilus' Traps from Asmodee. The scenario for Unlock! Night of the Boogeymen is quite a fun one! Little William has been having sleepless nights as of late and has been attacked by monsters from nightmares: the boogeymen! You have to seek out the monsters and fight them... but be careful; William is sleeping, and you can't wake him up!

For those who are unfamiliar, the Unlock! series is a cooperative card game inspired by escape rooms that use a simple system which allows you to search scenes, combine objects, and solve puzzles. Yup, all with a deck of sixty cards! Unlock! utilize only cards and a companion app that provides clues, check codes, monitor time remaining, etc.

SETUP
The card backs feature (at first glance) random numbers and the face cards are color-coded: yellow cards have four-digit unlock code, grey cards are informational, green cards require manipulation and interaction with the app, blue and red cards combine to open/discover new things. The basic idea is, you pair the blue card and red card, add their numbers together and reveal that card if it’s in the deck (hence the number on the card backs).

I would recommend a calculator handy to help with the addition if you are playing with kids. Also, the deck order out of the box is random. Considering you have 60 minutes on the clock, I would re-order the cards sequentially (numerical and alphabetical) to save on time when looking for cards as you discover new clues.

GAMEPLAY
The scenario starts with an introduction of 4 different types of monsters which come to fill children's heads with nightmares. As you progress through the game, you will have to eliminate each type one at a time... think of it as a mini-boss fight as you go through each room.

In general, the game mechanics are relatively simple- in each room, you search for clues, hidden objects, and information. Pair them up by combining the blue and red cards and reveal the next card for more clues/information,  defeat the boss and progress to the next room.

But wait...! What is a boss fight without a twist? Each monster you reveal will also force some limitations on how you interact with the game. This is a nice touch and we were completely caught off guard! This game mechanic exemplifies the uniqueness of each Unlock! adventure that continues to surprise.

The puzzles are very well done. There are a handful of puzzles that require outside the box thinking but the majority are relatively logical and straight forward. This provided a good balance between captivating storyline and engaging puzzles.

Like Escape rooms in the real world, there are some machines that you need to manipulate using the app. Compared to the machines on the Nautilus' Traps, these are more straight forward. However, if you do get stuck, you can call for hints to keep you moving.

As each card is associated with a number, type that number into the app to get help with the card. The hint system is very well done. It has 3 levels of reveal without giving too much away initially. Once you get to a yellow card and obtain the hidden 4-digit code, you type the code in the app to progress (or not) to the next room.

OVERALL
The Night of the Boogeymen is very enjoyable. Believe it or not, we managed to defeat the Boogeyman with 10 minutes to spare. Whew! The artwork is fantastic, the puzzles are challenging without being too frustrating and the storyline has a consistent flow to keep us captivated. We love how the puzzles build up to the final epic showdown with the final boss. For us, this is the best adventure we've played to-date and would recommend it to anyone who wants to start with an Unlock! adventure.

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Anthony of Jocu Playing Cards

Fillide: A Sicilian Folk Tale by Jocu Playing Cards is a set of luxury playing cards retelling the legend of Fillide. Designed in Italy by Sicilian artist Alessandra Gagliano, Fillide playing cards draw inspiration from the folk legends of Sicily, where ancient Greek temples and Roman theatres still stand almost side by side. The intriguing history of the island has created a diverse mix of cultures and ancient traditions, and these beautiful decks of cards showcase the imagery and symbolism from Sicilian folklore.

The decks come in two colorway, Aqua, and Terra. The face cards are fully custom and feature custom traditional pips; easily recognizable court cards with characters from Sicilian folklore- a mix of Greek and Roman mythology; beautiful Aces revealing the tale of Fillide- from the couple meeting, Fillide and Amacante parting, the death of Fillide and finally her blossoming upon Acamante's return. Gold and Silver metallic inks are used on the court cards and backs of the respective decks.

The decks are packaged in a luxurious matte tuck box with foil accents (gold or silver) and feature embossed details and interior print. For the collector, Fillide is a beautiful deck celebrating the beauty and magic of the natural world. For the magician and cardist, they are a spellbinding and mysterious tool to inspire wonder.

Last week, we had a quick chat with Anthony Holt of Jocu Playing Cards about their design background, inspiration and design process behind the Fillide deck.

For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourselves and what is your design background?
Hi everyone! My names Anthony and my partner Alessandra is the designer of Fillide. We’re a couple from England and Sicily and we live in the mountains above lake Como in northern Italy. I’ve been into magic since I was about 18 but I drifted away from it after university. I fell back into it a couple of years ago after finding my old cards and stumbling across Theory11, Ellusionist and a world of custom decks. I’ve been trapped down the rabbit hole ever since.

When it comes to Jocu though, Ale is the one with all the talent! Both her father and aunt are established artists in Sicily and she followed in their footsteps. After graduating from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome she worked as a graphic designer for many years in Rome and Milan before taking a step back to focus on her own creations.

Can you describe Fillide Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it?
Fillide is a story that’s thousands of years old but is little known by those not expert in ancient mythology. Unless that is, you come from Agrigento in the south of Sicily. Alessandra was born there and every year there’s a huge festival to celebrate the blossoming of the almond trees. At this time the story of Fillide - the legend of how the almond tree came to be - is retold and it has become synonymous with the region.

The deck takes inspiration from nature and history, combining Alessandra’s beautiful designs with my love of custom playing cards. We’ve worked hard to ensure that the deck will have a lot of premium features as standard such as metallic inks and a beautiful foil tuck box to really capture the feel of the story and the period from which it is inspired.

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?
We’d been thinking about designing a deck of playing cards ever since I rediscovered card magic a couple of years back. I started to collect decks again and we kept talking about launching our own but never quite got round to it.

However, when we moved to Lake Como we were suddenly surrounded by some incredible views and nature. That’s when the idea really jumped out of us - we wanted to design a deck based around this beautiful, inspiring nature around us. That’s where Fillide started. We started with the tree design which is quite common in mythology - the idea of Mother Earth and the tree of life. Little did I know that Alessandra was actually taking inspiration from a folk tale she remembered from when she was young about a woman turned into an almond tree - Fillide.

As this progressed she told me about the story and we fell in love with it as the theme for the whole deck. It kind of snowballed from there. We didn’t abandon the connection with nature either. So whilst we have the story of Fillide and the various mythologies of Sicily we also have suits that correspond to the elements and the seasons as well as references to traditional Sicilian playing cards. There’s a lot of symbolism in there tying everything together.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
For Ale, she says that designing the King of Diamonds was her major breakthrough. It was the first court card she did, and it took about two weeks just for that one. Her normal style is very different, so for her, it was the moment where she discovered the whole direction of the courts and could finally visualize everything.

For me, the Joker was a big moment. Jokers are often afterthoughts in deck design but when Ale suddenly came up with the idea of the Trinacria - the famous Sicilian three-legged Gorgon that appears on their flag - it was just perfect. It seamlessly tied in classic playing card conventions with all the mythology of Fillide and Sicily in one moment.

With so many playing card projects competing for funding, why should potential backers choose your deck?
I think our deck is unique in that it’s a rejection of the trend to make the designs more simple and minimal. It’s a complex design, not just in terms of detail, but in the amount of thought that’s gone into linking the imagery with the story and our vision.

Also as the experience with cards and magic comes from my input, Alessandra has designed something without prejudice or influence from existing decks which I think has been a massive advantage. She’s not copied or been led one way or another by a huge collection of successful decks on her shelf - it’s all from her heart and her talent with design.

Overall this will be a really unique deck, combining a fantastic, passionate artist with a lover of quality playing cards to make a really top quality piece.

What’s next for Jocu Cards? Are you planning to release more playing card decks in the future?
Ale’s bursting with ideas and this is definitely just the start. In researching other legends and folk tales we’ve discovered a wealth of themes just from local folklore here in northern Italy. Almost too many great ideas! I’ll admit that we do already have plans for our second and third decks, and they follow a logical connection. After that, we may take a break from the folklore themes and experiment a bit. But it’s still early days in our first campaign so we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves!

Finally, what are your favorite playing cards?
That’s a hell of a question! I must admit that for magic I tend to use standard bikes as they get used heavily, written on, torn up and so on. But as a collector, I’d have to say my favorite right now is Betrayers Invictus by Thirdway Industries. I love the whole Betrayers theme but Invictus is the only one on Cartamundi’s B9 stock, which I love, and the gold cold foil on the back seals it for me. Incredible handling deck and gorgeous designs.

Ale has obviously taken more of an interest in my collection in these months and she says the same! Great minds think alike and all that... she also has a soft spot for the Bicycle Brosmind deck.

Thank you for your time Anthony and all the best! 

Fillide playing cards will be printed by our friends at Cartamundi. Having raised 90 percent of its £10k goal in less than a week, with another 23 days left to go, a pledge of £12 sets you up with a deck. Check it out on Kickstarter here!

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Deck View: Superfly Playing Cards

Streetwear. Street. Unique.

This is the first deck in the popular Superfly Playing Cards series. Designed by Estonian designer Toomas Pintson under the Gemini Decks brand, the deck is inspired by the popular streetwear culture. Superfly features a red-white colorway with custom mirrored back design, Ace of Spades, Jokers and semi-custom court cards. The back design element can be found on the pip of the face cards, including the court cards.

The deck is definitely inspired by Supreme and all these other streetwear brands like Off-White, BAPE etc. Toomas mixed different patterns together and used bold fat lettering to get the 'street' culture look. The deck is printed by The United States Playing Card Company on high-quality crushed Bee stock, the deck not only look good but handles amazing!

Available from geminidecks.com. For other cool decks, head to jpgames.co.uk.

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Cardistry: Detailed Look at MIRROR Playing Cards by Anyone

4 months after the launch of the pre-order, Anyone's MIRROR Playing Cards has been delivered! The deck is based on the original Smoke & Mirrors brand by the Buck twins, Dan and Dave back in 2007. The reprint sports a minimalist black tuck box with Dan and Dave's logo prominently featured. The same design is showcased on the card backs. Meanwhile, the face cards are pretty much standard with the exception of the Ace of Spades and Jokers.

Originally published on cardistrybeast.com

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Deal of the Week: 22% Off Entire Order at PlayingCardDecks

Our friends at PlayingCardDecks.com is celebrating their 2nd Anniversary! A special sale for the special event! Enjoy 22% off your entire order with promo code: PCD2

Note: Not valid on Pip Box or gift cards, one use per customer. Sale ends April 30 11 pm PDT so place your order while it lasts! Expires: 30th April 2019 11pm PDT

Discover more deals, coupon codes and offer on tuckcase.com

What are the Bicycle Supreme Line Playing Cards?

The Supreme Line decks are Rider Backs crafted for the magicians and cardists in mind. Produced by DiFattaMagic, the familiar Rider backs have been enhanced! The Supreme Lines are printed on Crushed Stock, AND Traditionally Cut.

These two features are high-sought after by many performers for better handling. The face cards are standard to maintain familiarity with the spectators. 3 gaff cards have been included for use in your magic routine.

The deck is packaged in a familiar tuck box with no seal. Despite the improved quality, it will cost only slightly more than the original Rider Back decks. The Supreme line will be printed by the USPCC.

We were told that the retail price will be only $3,90! According to Marco Teti the idea is to craft a deck for your everyday use with added features and superior quality at an affordable price. Available now at DiFattaMagic or through many dealers in Europe and in the rest of the world soon after.

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5 Things You Should Know About the WILD WEST: Deadwood & The Black Hills Decks

The WILD WEST Playing Cards- Deadwood & The Black Hills is a fully-custom deck that features historical legends of Wild West’s Deadwood and The Black Hills regions. Designed by Randy Butterfield of Midnight Cards, every element, except for fonts and the Tuck Boxes’ Interior Map, have been hand-drawn from scratch.

The card backs and aces were inspired by elaborate engravings found in leather and weapons of the Wild West era. The Clubs and Spades Courts focus on historical figures who were instrumental in Deadwood’s growth and notoriety, while the Hearts and Diamond Courts include historical figures who were influential in The Black Hills and Montana regions. The Deadwood Face Cards have a cream / tan background, giving the design an overall sepia tone vibe. The Black Hills Face Cards have a gunmetal grey background, which contrasts beautifully with the Courts' drawings.

Here are 5 things you should know about the WILD WEST: Deadwood & The Black Hills Decks:

1. Drawing Medium
The Wild West Decks are the first designs that Randy did all of the hard work off the computer. Randy told Kardify, "It was liberating! It was such a great feeling to draw everything the old-school way, just pencil on paper. I still had to do a lot of work in Photoshop (outlining, cleanup, adding color, design layout..), but the brunt of the work was in the drawing stages."

This had a great effect on Randy's family. Randy continued, "For the first time, I could work on a Playing Card project while hanging out with my family at night (I usually only worked on Cards after my wife and kids were in bed for the night). My daughter, Violet, must’ve liked seeing me draw while we were hanging out and/or watching television after dinner. Violet would get out her drawing pad, and draw her own fun characters and scenes. And she continues to do so now, which is very similar to how I was as a kid (always drawing something in the hours after dinner and before bedtime)."

2. Consistency
One of the toughest aspects of creating a fully-custom design is consistency. Randy had not drawn seriously with pencil on paper in many years, so the first few Court drawings had much rougher details and shading than the later Courts, Jokers, Backgrounds and Back Card drawings. "Wild Bill Hickok’s Court Drawing was the first one I drew, as a sort of proof-of-concept to myself. Most of the later Court drawings took around 2 hours of cleanup work in Photoshop. Wild Bill’s drawing was so rough, when compared to the later drawings, that it took over 5 hours of Photoshop cleanup for his Court."

3. Theme
Before now, all of Randy's fully-custom designs have focused on themes of International inspiration: ROME Decks = Ancient Rome, Imperial Decks = Imperial Russia / Faberge Eggs, ORNATE Decks = Baroque Design from Europe. "The Wild West Decks are my first fully-custom design that’s inspired by American History. I found the research to be much easier and more source materials available than past themes. I’m sure part of it is due to America’s young history, when compared to the rest of the world!"

4. Scouting Trip
With the designing of these Decks on the horizon, and Randy's turn to pick the destination for his family vacation, Randy chose Deadwood and The Black Hills for his summer 2018 trip. "We stayed at the Cadillac Jack’s Casino for 6 nights in Deadwood, and saw almost everything there is to see in The Black Hills. I learned a lot from that trip, and even changed a couple Court characters based on those learnings (added Potato Creek Johnny and Phoebe Hearst). We were a little worried that the kids wouldn’t enjoy the trip, but there were plenty of family-friendly sites and excursions. We would definitely return to Deadwood in the future!"

5. Wild Bill Connection (Maybe)
"When I was a kid, we had always heard stories that we were somehow related to Wild Bill Hickok (on my dad’s side of the family). So I think a Deadwood theme is one I always “needed” to tackle at some point. Once I got into the design, I asked my mom about family tree info for my dad’s family. I joined Ancestry.com and jumped into figuring it out. I found the connection to a few Hickoks (2nd great grandmother, Rachel Angeline Hickok, and her father and grandfather). But that’s as far as I could get. I never could find a connection to James Butler Hickok (Wild Bill) and my Hickok relatives. Maybe it was just a story handed down through my father’s family? I doubt we’ll ever know for sure. Either way, I had a blast creating the WILD WEST: Deadwood & The Black Hills Decks!"


The WILD WEST Playing Cards- Deadwood & The Black Hills decks are now funding on Kickstarter and pledge starts at $15 for a single deck. Also, the Limited Collectors Set will be available during the campaign. The exclusive 2-Deck Collectors Box in Gold/White FOIL includes a WILD WEST: Deadwood Deck with GOLD GILDED Edges, a WILD WEST: The Black Hill’s Deck with BLACK GILDED Edges and a 32-Page Companion Book. LIMITED to 250 Sets.

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Kickstarster: Luminosity Playing Cards by Blackink Playing Cards

From Blackink Playing Cards, Luminosity Playing Cards are inspired by Norse Mythology depicting the age-old conflict between good and evil. Luminosity is a fully custom deck with a story, with incredible artwork by Jody Eklund and story written by Ricky Cassford. From the Kickstarter campaign page,

Visually inspired by Norse Mythology, we have created a rich narrative representative of a deeper spiritual meaning that is brought to life through this set of unique and custom illustrated playing cards.

The Luminosity Playing Cards is more than just another deck. Not only is it functional, but the deck has unique characters with their own story. As the Kickstarter project progresses, Jody will be revealing more characters with their back story and unraveling the mystery of The Luminosity.

Two editions are on offer during the campaign- the Standard Edition (SE), and the Kickstarter Exclusive Edtion (KSE). Both come with completely custom artwork, from the courts, aces to joker and card backs. The SE card backs sports a blue ink metallic colorway and the KSE in stunning copper ink.

The face cards of the SE include Silver Metallic ink accents which give it a touch of elegance. Copper Metallic Ink is used for the background design elements of the face cards, pips, and indices on the KSE deck.

The Tuck Case designs for both editions are unique and will be printed on matte grey card stock adorned with elegant copper hot foil stamping and embossed. The background pattern of the KSE tuck box will have a metallic coating applied. Both tuck boxes will be produced by Gambler's Warehouse.

Printed by the USPCC, the Luminosity Playing Cards are available NOW on Kickstarter for $15 for the SE and $18 for the KSE.

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Ladybug Playing Cards by PlayingCardDecks

Ladybug Playing Cards is a charming deck produced by Will Roya of PlayingCardDecks. Ever since Will started thinking of themes for custom deck design the ladybug has been on his list. Will told Kardify,

I have 2 tattoos and one is a ladybug, that I got at age 16. My daughter's nursery was all ladybug themed including the ceiling fan.

The fully custom Bicycle-branded deck showcase the artwork by Artur Rajch and prominently features the cheery red with black polka dots design elements on the card backs, courts, aces to the indices and pips.

The artwork and theme are outstanding! A lot of attention has gone into crafting a functional deck in addition to the theme and the gorgeous artwork of the deck. Some may recognize the royals from one of Will's previous deck.
Will revealed,

I loved the court designs for the Guard decks and was so glad we could reuse them for this deck with a slight color update to fit the theme.

Two editions are made available online, the Black Edition and the Red Edition. Both decks have the same faces but come in different respective tuck cases and backs color.

Printed by the USPCC with the traditional cut and air cushion finish. Limited to 1000 decks of each color.

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Deck View: Outlaw Playing Cards

Mean. Wild. Rebel.

Outlaw Playing Cards is a fully custom deck with a bad attitude and big cojones. Designed by Lee Mckenzie of Kings & Crooks, the deck is inspired by the wild, ride or die attitude of rebel motorcycle clubs. The fully custom deck features a savage, no-holds-barred design that captured the authentic, uncaged outlaw spirit and the fierce freedom these born-to-ride rebels live for. Complete with motorcycle club Ace of Spades patch and a custom rebel crew of court cards, these are probably some of the meanest looking Jacks, beautiful Queens and toughest Kings you‘ll ever deal with. Outlaw playing cards are printed by the US Playing Card Co.

Available now from JP Games.

Cardistry: BCA Playing Cards Available Today!

Best Cardist Alive (Instagram: @bestcardistalive) is set to release the BCA Playing Cards today (April 21st) on 11:00am EST. The deck features a red colorway with the BCA crown prominently featured on the tuck and the mirrored card backs. The face cards are standard with the exception of the Ace of Spades and Jokers. Printed by the USPCC and will be available on bestcardistalive.com for $9.95 per deck at launch, $12 per deck after the first 48 hours. Also... $100 Bricks available for the first 48 hours.

Article originally published on cardistrybeast.com.

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