River Rats Playing Cards and Card Game (Kickstarter)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stokkel/river-rats

A regular deck of custom playing cards ... and a creative cooperative poker-style game!

Price: 15 euros
Current funding level: already funded
Kickstarter ends: Thursday, June 5, 2025



The River Rats Playing Cards and Card Game project grabbed my immediate interest for two reasons.  Firstly, I'm a huge fan of custom playing cards.  And that's what this is: a regular deck of playing cards you can use for playing your favourite traditional card game.  Except that all the artwork on the cards is completely customized, so it's a novel art piece that collectors will love, as well as being functional.

But I'm also a huge fan of modern games played with a regular deck of playing cards.  In recent years some very good ones have emerged, such as Regicide, which is a brilliant and clever cooperative combat game.  River Rats is also a cooperative game, but is inspired by Poker, so it has a very different feel.  You and your fellow players are teaming up, trying to create hands that will beat the River Rats, which are represented in the game by the four Kings.

The Deck

The deck comes in an attractive tuck box, complete with foil accents for a luxury look, in your choice of red or blue.  I love the colour choices they've made for this deck, and the combination of gold on red and of gold on blue both look terrific. 



The card backs especially look lovely, with a symmetrical design that taps into the river rat theme.



The illustrations and graphic design has been done by Rixt Heerschop, who has done a fantastic job in evoking a whimsical and fun theme.  The result has a vibrant and playful look, which is fun to enjoy simply as a custom deck of playing cards, or as part of the game.  I read somewhere that the world of Samurai Jack was an inspiration for the theme and style of the artwork, but even though I'm entirely unfamiliar with that show, the card art stands on its own and can be appreciated independent of that.

The Kings picture the River Rats that we're competing against in the game; they are wealthy robotic rats and enemy figures.





The Aces represent the players, while the rest of the deck pictures "The Crew" that we'll use for gameplay to make the poker hands. Each different value pictures a common set of characters, who have a similar role on a river boat. 



Furthermore, each suit also depicts a different animal, which is linked to the deck's theme (and the game).  The Spades are Otters (always sneakily discarding something), the Diamonds are bugs (always trying to swap or trade), the Hearts are Crocodiles (taking a risk), and the Clubs are Birds (either working hard or adding something).



I especially love the fact that we have full customization that highlights the artwork, while clear indices ensures that the playing cards also remain functional.



The artwork really is gorgeous, and close attention to detail will reward the observant viewer.  There are miniature suit pips that have been incorporated into the artwork of the cards in a semi-transformational style.  Notice the buttons on the shirts of the characters pictured below, and the leaves of the vegetation in the bird's mouth.  Also notice the borders, which cleverly incorporate the shape of half a pip corresponding to the suit of the card.



Besides these 52 cards, there are also two Jokers, two double-sided reference cards, and a rulebook.  The deck is poker-sized and is being printed by WJPC on their 300gsm German stock.  WJPC has been used by an increasing number of creators in recent years, their quality and performance is very impressive.  This particular stock handles a lot like USPCC's crushed stock, which is a favourite for many. 

Here's an overview of all the cards in the deck:





The Game

Along with the deck you get a rulebook for the card game, which is for 1 to 4 players.  As a testament to the quality of the game, out of more than 40 entries in the 2024 Traditional Deck Game Design Contest, it placed in the Top 10 in both the "Best Solo Game" category and in the "Best Multiplayer Game" category.



Mathijs Jansen and Robin Stokkel are the game designers.  They actively encourage people to try playing River Rats with a regular deck of cards.  You can download the rulebook and player aids for free from the River Rats website, and that will give you all you need to play the game. 

If you want to give it a try with a deck at home, I'd recommend printing the reference cards and reading the rules, and you'll be all set.  On the Kickstarter page you'll also find links to several videos with play-throughs and reviews of the game, and that will also really help.  The 5 minute video from Getting Games is a great place to learn the basics of how the game works, and I'd suggest watching that first.



I'm not going into detail in describing how the game works, but here's the official description: "In River Rats, you and your crew are forced into a high-stakes poker game by the rich, robotic River Rats.  But this is not about gambling, it's about clever card play, limited communication and teamwork."

"Each suit is a unique faction: clubs = birds, diamonds = bugs, hearts = crocs, and spades = otters  Each with its own smart ability to shift the odds.  Outsmart the elite before they trap you in debt.  Defeat both River Rats by ensuring each accumulates five Debt before you collectively gain five Debt."



Gameplay consists of four main steps:
1. Replenish your hand to three cards
2. Place a card in the Collective Hand to make strongest poker hand
3. Take a strategic action (♠️ = discard, ♣️ = add to the market, ♥️ = increase the stakes, ♦️ = swap)
4. only when the Collective Hand has 5 cards: Showdown and assign debt



The two reference cards that are included in the deck provide all the key information needed when playing the game; they're double-sided, so what you see here represents two of the four sides.



So not only do we get a creative deck, but also the opportunity to have fun with a card game!



Extras

Besides the custom deck, there are also deluxe levels of support, which give you extras like a neoprene playmat, poker chips with a bag, signed uncut sheets, posters, and postcards.



As a collector of playing cards, I love the look of this custom deck even independent of the game.  It has a whimsical and playful charm, and because the indices are clear, you can use it for other card games too.  The fact that it has a brand new and clever cooperative poker-inspired card game built it makes it all the more attractive.  Well done to the creators!



Kickstarter link

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stokkel/river-rats

Room 52x52 Playing Cards by Lunzi & TCC (Kickstarter)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smoothwriting/room-5252-playing-cards-by-lunzi-and-tcc

Hand-drawn custom playing cards inspired by common doors

Price: $9 (Room 52x52 Mystery Deck), $9 (Joker 52 deck), $52 (half-brick, includes 1x Colored Collection Deck)
Current funding level: already funded
Kickstarter ends: Thursday, May 15, 2025



It can take a bit to wrap your head around how the different decks in this project work, but I managed to figure it out, this overview should set things out clearly for you.

Playing card enthusiasts who have followed TCC's output in the last couple of years will be very familiar with the name of Lunzi.  He's a playing card designer from China who has produced several projects as part of his "Smooth Writing" series.  Besides his Childhood Playing Cards, the two that are especially noteworthy are Room52 Playing Cards, and Sleep Walk Playing Cards.



Room52 was inspired by the motels and key tags, and uses the shape of a door to evoke the concept of a room.  Sleep Walk takes us the world behind the door.  Now in his newest project, Room 52?52 Playing Cards, which is currently up for funding on Kickstarter, we return to the original door of the first deck, but this time we will be exploring 54 different doors.

The ad copy describes the main concept as follows: "Each door is a secret path to a different room, a different scene, or even a different world. When you stop in front of a door, you don't have to actually step in, but your thoughts will already be traveling through it. You will wonder what kind of owner lives behind the door. And what untold stories are hidden... This is not only a collection of doors but also a feast for the imagination, a mind travel that breaks the routine ... Each door leads to unknown and undefined spaces. Why not plunge in and let your imagination run wild?" 

Here are all the different doors you will meet in the course of this journey:



It's a fascinating and interesting idea, and there are details on the faces of the cards that work this out further.  For instance, the Ace of Spades has the words "It's not a Door But a Room."  Again we're being invited to use our imagination: "Here, the door is not only a passageway connecting different rooms but also a feast for the imagination, a wonderful journey to the depths of the heart that breaks the mold."

Altogether the project includes four different types of decks:
● Room 52x52 Mystery Deck (limited to 52 x 54 decks)
● Line Art Deck (limited to 52 decks)
● Colored Collection Deck (limited to 300 decks)
● Joker 52 Deck (limited to 1000 decks)



Colored Collection Deck

The Colored Collection Deck is one that most collectors will want to pick up, and only 300 of these are available.



As you know, a standard deck contains 52 cards and 2 jokers, making up 54 cards in total.  The Colored deck features a different card back on each card, picturing a total of 54 different doors.  This is the deck to get if you want to see the artwork for all 54 doors in a single deck.



It's really an art collector's piece, because with every card back being different, it's effectively a marked deck, and can't be used for card games.  But it sure looks great!  Only 300 of these have been produced, and virtually the only way to get them is by picking up a half brick box, which automatically includes 1x Colored Collection Deck along with 5 different Room 52x52 Mystery Decks.

All the doors have different names, and the creators have published a complete list of these, which you can find right here.  They offer the following explanation of how these reflect different styles:  "You?ll notice the designs span across regions, cultures, and styles ? each door hinting at the story behind it."  The examples they share begin with the "Ancestral Hall Door", "Chinese Couplets Door", and "Cantonese Iron Door" shown here. "From iconic Chinese-style doors ? including ancestral temple gates guarded by stone lions, to festive red couplets welcoming prosperity." 



These next three are all examples of a "Georgian Style Door", "blending Baroque curves and Rococo ornaments into architectural harmony."



There's also some more whimsical doors that revolve around fun concepts: "Doors like the "Brain Door," the eerie "Cthulhu Door," and the mysterious "Osseous Crypt Door" are designed to spark your imagination and encourage wild theories about the world behind them." 



But that's just a small taste of what is included - there are plenty more to discover!  Here's an overview of all 54 different card backs.



The typographic design on the faces is evokes a vintage feel, incorporating some creativity and imagination.  While somewhat similar to Lunzi's original Room52 deck, there is a whole new look, so they aren't identical.





Here's a look at the non-court cards.  I especially like the approach that has been taken to the number cards. 







Room 52x52 Mystery Deck

This is the "standard" item available, but the "mystery" element ensures that it is anything but standard.  As mentioned already, the Colored Collection Deck lets you see all 54 different doors, but you can't use it for card games because it's basically a marked deck.  That's where the Mystery Deck comes in. 



With 54 different doors, there are 54 different card backs available, and each Mystery Deck adopts one of these doors, and uses it for all the cards in that deck.  This way you can use it as a regular deck.  There are also 54 different tuck boxes, each corresponding to whatever door design is used for the card backs of the deck inside.



But you don't know in advance what "door" you're going to get for your deck, because each of these is packaged in an identical opaque black package.  So you'll only find out which of the 54 doors your deck uses when you open up your Mystery package. 





There are only 52 decks for each of the 54 different doors, and they are individually numbered. 

When you buy a half-brick of Mystery Decks, you get a Colored Collection Deck, and it is guaranteed that the remaining five decks in the half-brick will all be different doors, so you won't get two identical decks.  There's also a chance that your Mystery Deck might include a Line Art Deck, which we'll explain next. 



The card faces of these decks are the same as the faces of the Colored Collection deck.





Line Art Deck

Besides 52 decks corresponding to each of the 54 different door designs, there's also a special "Line Art Deck", of which only 52 have been made. 



This is similar to the Colored Collection Deck in that it features a different door on all the card backs.



 But it uses a minimalist design of white and black (and red for the Hearts and Diamond cards), that captures the original design of the deck without the colors.





Joker 52 Deck

Given that the project was released in April, this additional deck is considered as a late April Fool's Day deck, and 1000 of these have been printed.  It's inspired by the other decks we've already seen, but makes some comic adjustments for a more whimsical touch.

The tuck box features a Joker image where this clown-like character's tongue becomes a door.



The artwork on the faces is similar to the main Room 52x52 deck, but everything has been changed to incorporate clown aspects of the Joker character.  The cards themselves transform aspects of the original artwork by incorporating clown faces and shapes, including in some of the pips.







Allin Set

If you are really committed and keen, the "Allin Set" (only 10 available) comes with all 54 non-repeating Room 52x52 decks plus one Line Art Deck, and an autographed collector's card - but obviously splurging to get over 50 decks doesn't come cheap!  Note that this set of 55 decks doesn't include the Colored Collection Deck or the Joker 52 Deck. 





The Uncut Sheet (a $20 add-on) is certainly going to appeal to many people as an alternative way to showcase all the different door designs, although it has to be said that they look most amazing on the individual tuck cases.

Comparison of Card Faces

For comparison, here is an overview of the faces used for the different decks. Here are the faces used for the Colored Collection Deck and the 54 different Mystery Decks:



And here are the faces used for the Joker 52 deck, which uses a similar style, but incorporates clown elements in the artwork and on some of the pips:



This is certainly a project that takes custom playing cards in an interesting direction.  It's may be somewhat of a nightmare for the completionist who wants each iteration of this deck, unless they go for the "Allin" option.  But it's certainly a fun concept, and I love the fact that we are seeing creators stretching the boundaries of the familiar, and exploring new pathways in the world of playing cards. 

Kickstarter link

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smoothwriting/room-5252-playing-cards-by-lunzi-and-tcc

Pictured below are the "Dutch Half Door", "Versailles Carved Door", and "Nautical Cabin Door".

The second set of pictures (all of the spades) to complete the original post.

hey, how's everyone doing?

I'm James, living just north of Dallas, Texas. I was learned of this group at the beginning of April from Chris Mayhew on a different social media group. it took 15 minutes of clicking through the website to know I had to be a part of this. I'm glad I did. I was able to hang out with a lot of you during parts of the virtual conference over the last weekend and it was incredible. Lee puts on a fantastic event, as well as all the other people behind the scenes.
I've been a fan of playing cards since I was a teenager, always had a deck of cards in my backpack or pocket, but typically just the regular rider backs. I was always fascinated with magic and sleight of hand. When I was a kid my parents paid a guy to come over to house once a week for a few months to teach me magic. It was an awesome experience. I fell out of it for a few decades unfortunately. Last summer, thanks to a few youtube channels, my love was rekindled. I found myself buying decks of cards from magicians I was following, such as Chris Ramsay and Xavior Spade. I started grabbing decks from other companies like Theory11, Art of Play, Bicycle, Tally-Ho and a smattering of others I've picked up from random shops. I started following some of the cardists and magicians on youtube, Dan&Dave, Jaspas Deck, LotusinHand, Ekatrina, Zach Mueller and Andrei Jihk.

Hoping to make it to the convention in October and meeting you in person.

Echo & Thousand Mile Scroll Playing Cards by TCC Fashion

Over the last couple of years TCC Playing Cards has been releasing a number of decks of custom playing cards under the label TCC Fashion.  The goal of this series is to produce quality playing cards that are the best value for money, which special design features such as holographic foils, lenticular printing, color-changing UV ink, embossing, or unique artistic designs, all at an affordable price capped at US $11.95.

So far they have succeeded quite admirably at achieving this, and their deck designs they've released so far include the following:
● TCC Fashion V1 (2023): Rainbow HOLO, City of Mirrors, David, Lithography
● TCC Fashion V2 (2024): Cat & Dog, Fortress, Sakura, Peacock
● Recent releases: Round Moon (2024), Year of the Snakes (2025), Rose (2025)

Now in close succession they have released two more custom decks under the TCC Fashion label:
● Echo Playing Cards
● Thousand Mile Scroll Playing Cards

These continue to live up to the vision that TCC has for their Fashion series, namely "With a harmonious fusion of captivating aesthetics, superior craftsmanship, and unbeatable affordability, we aim to provide our customers with an extraordinary value-for-money experience."  Like the previous decks in the series, these are standard poker sized cards (62mm x 88mm), and besides 52 playing cards there are also two custom jokers and two ad cards.

Here's some information about the two new decks, and the features that are unique to each:

Echo Playing Cards

Echo Playing Cards is a deck themed around music. 



As one of the included ad cards explains: "The word "music" hails from the ancient Greek mousike, signifying the art of the Muses, and stands as one of humanity's most resplendent cultural treasures.  We are moved by music, we compose, perform, listen, and encounter echoes of countless maestros, and the harmonious resonance of venerable forebears in the realm of melody."

The musical theme is immediately evident from the card backs, which includes ornamentation with musical notes.



But as you'd expect, it's especially the court cards that bring the music theme to life.







The number cards and pips are also stylized and use a custom colour scheme in keeping with the rest of the deck.



Finally we have two custom jokers.



A gorgeous version of the deck with purple gilding with starry patterns is also available, in a limited edition of just 300.



Both decks have custom seals, but in the case of the gilded deck it is individually numbered.



A striking and unique feature of the tuck box of both decks is that it uses lenticular printing.  This means that as you slowly rotate the angle in which you are viewing the deck, it creates the illusion of a changing image, with one illustration morphing into another.  A mysterious figure - possibly a muse - magically seems to appear and then vanish again, as you hold up the deck.



Thousand Mile Scroll Playing Cards

Thousand Mile Scroll Playing Cards reimagines "The Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains", a famous Chinese painting by Wang Ximeng. The painting dates back 900 years, and is recognized as one of China's top ten masterpieces.  In real life the painting - which is painted on silk - is a panoramic landscape picture more than 10 meters long.



As one of the included ad cards explains: "During the Northern Song Dynasty, traditional Chinese painting reached its first golden age.  Among its finest works is The Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, created by Wang Ximeng.  Inspired by this masterpiece, we have crafted a deck of playing cards that captures the grandeur of this iconic landscape."

The tuck box immediately introduces us to the painting artwork, including its Chinese name, "Qian Li Jiang Sang", and the glorious colours and style also makes an appearance in the over-sized Ace of Spades.



The court cards depict a variety of traditional Chinese characters.







Complete customization has also been applied to all the number cards.



The two custom jokers function as a diptych, and combine to produce a single image.



A similar technique has been applied to the card backs, and the 13 backs of each suit can be arranged in order to form a continuous panoramic image, representing part of the original artwork.



The tuck box features delightful interior printing, touched with gold foil, matching the stylish gold foil on the outside of the box.



An appropriate custom seal finishes off the deck, ensure it has good looks both inside and out.




Product pages:
● Echo Playing Cards
● Thousand Mile Scroll Playing Cards