Cold Case Playing Cards: Who Murdered Erdnase?

Emily Feldman previously created custom decks with beautiful card backs that make eye-catching fans and spreads. For her next deck, Cold Case Playing Cards, Emily created a fun, thematic deck inspired by escape room/murder mystery puzzles now funding on Kickstarter.

In this deck of cards, it tells the story of S.W. Erdnase in a fictional crime story. It is said that he was murdered, and whoever killed the guy who wrote the bible of card magic and card cheating is never found to this day – hence it became a cold case.

The card back design features a two-way illustration of a crime scene. There is the chalk bodyline complete with evidence marker and blood puddle. Also, a crime scene tape is prominently featured, becoming a broken border element that creates a very visual fanning artwork.

All Aces feature enlarged pips fashioned to look like fingerprints. The color for the red pips is switched to orange – the color of the convict’s jumpsuit.

The court cards featured modified courts to look like mug shots- they are wearing the iconic striped uniforms as they are holding their prison tag standing in front of the height chart. There are two custom Jokers: one is a “Wanted Poster” and the other is a victim’s toe tag.

The sideway tuck box is designed to look like a folder that contains the details of the cold case files of S.W. Erdnase. Every deck comes with a special bag that is designed to look like an evidence bag, Continuing with the theme, the finished deck will be shipped in a box taped with custom sealing tape.

Cold Case will be printed on 300gsm Germany Black Core Paper and pledge starts from $13 on Kickstarter.