Room 52x52 Playing Cards by Lunzi & TCC (Kickstarter)https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smoothwriting/room-5252-playing-cards-by-lunzi-and-tccHand-drawn custom playing cards inspired by common doorsPrice: $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 DeckThis 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 FacesFor 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-tccPictured below are the "Dutch Half Door", "Versailles Carved Door", and "Nautical Cabin Door".
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