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What's the consensus on decks with 5+ suits?

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Re: What's the consensus on decks with 5+ suits?
« Reply #25 on: May 25, 2015, 12:54:31 PM »
 

Don Boyer

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Here's an interesting thought for you, one that I've floated to another erstwhile deck designer before (Russell Common, a.k.a. sprouts1114).  Sprouts has a concept for "Texas" playing cards - four suited jokers and each suit has extra cards in the court, a bishop and a cavalier.

He was insistent on doing his entire deck as a unique design, with value characters printed inside oversized pips in the indices.  I suggested to him that he could make the deck for a lot less money IF he made it compatible with an existing popular design by using the same back - for example, a Bicycle Rider Back or a Bee Diamond Back.  Bicycles, being the cheaper of the two, would be a good choice.  Instead of making an entirely brand new deck, you only need to make the extra cards - though in this case you would also have to print with USPC to get matching stock, finish, overall quality, etc.

These could literally be "expansion packs" for the existing design.  You could make a matching deck with four completely different suits in two new colors - blue bells and stars, green crowns and dots, etc.  You could make a new set of suits that match the existing suits but in new colors - green spades, blue diamonds, yellow hearts, purple clubs, etc.  You could make a set of cards that add new values to the existing deck - new courts, cards with values of 11, 12, 13, 14, etc., new jokers, etc.  It would allow for the expansion of what we presently use into something new, yet would not necessitate the creation of a completely new deck - just the additional cards.  One could even make "mix and match" sets - for example, sell the extra suits in small packs individually, or the extra value cards, allowing people to pick and choose the extra features they want to add to their decks.

This would be a highly viable and much simpler way to create such decks for the future.
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Re: What's the consensus on decks with 5+ suits?
« Reply #26 on: September 15, 2016, 01:23:17 PM »
 

cScott

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I really like non-standard decks (suits, card count, graphics) and I've come across some really great ones on BGG like the Stardeck and Empire Deck. These are decks with more than 5 suits, originally so that more people could play Bridge together. I don't know if it's just because 5+-player Bridge isn't a huge draw, but it seems like these just aren't a big thing. I can't find any on eBay or Amazon and the ones that have websites are out of stock. Are 5+ suit decks just not as popular as when these decks came out (early 90s), and what do you guys think of them?

If you like playing cards with additional suits, you might be interested in Deck6: http://www.jamesrobertwatson.com/deck6.html

It has 3 red suits (hearts, diamonds and shields) and 3 black suits (spades, clubs and cups).
 

Re: What's the consensus on decks with 5+ suits?
« Reply #27 on: October 21, 2017, 01:25:18 PM »
 

Cazaux

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If you're looking for a universal deck with 6-suit, each suit having its own color, 20 cards per suit, designed as an extension of classical card deck, have a look at K6T:
http://jlg.cazaux.free.fr/k6t/k6t.htm
 

Re: What's the consensus on decks with 5+ suits?
« Reply #28 on: October 28, 2017, 06:55:19 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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The big issue with such decks is really coming up with viable games.  Just using these larger-than-normal decks with standard games doesn't always work - I tried Sprout's deck with the solitaire game Canfield, better known in the UK as Demon, and I didn't win a single game - the additional cards made the odds longer for success.  You'd need to have totally new games, or at the least new ways of playing existing games - ways that aren't just creative, but viable and workable in terms of odds, predictability, etc.  The more bizarre a game, the less likely you'll find people willing to give it a shot.
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Re: What's the consensus on decks with 5+ suits?
« Reply #29 on: September 19, 2020, 02:37:10 AM »
 

brendantheraven

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Hi folks. Just wanted to add to this old thread to say that I have designed a new five suit deck: the Deck of Shields: https://deckofshields.com/.
 

Re: What's the consensus on decks with 5+ suits?
« Reply #30 on: September 22, 2020, 06:15:27 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Hi folks. Just wanted to add to this old thread to say that I have designed a new five suit deck: the Deck of Shields: https://deckofshields.com/.

Would you care to elaborate more on how you've incorporated a fifth suit into an otherwise standard deck?  How would you say it affects game play in various popular games?  Or is it more for custom games?
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
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