New Add-ons, Highlighting the Jack of Hearts, and the Game Pitch
almost 6 years ago – Mon, Jul 27, 2020 at 03:22:08 PM

Hi Fellow Gamers,

Thank you for helping us reach the $20k stretch goal! Now, everybody who chooses a pledge level with 4 or more decks will get a free Carat DS2A Double Deck Sleeve to keep one of their sets safe and pretty. While you can order other types of deck sleeves from online retailers, the DS2A is a new product hot off the press. Here is a photo of the actual sample product we received just a few days ago.

New Add-Ons: We included the Add-On section on the campaign page and currently have 3 new add-ons. You can get ONE extra double deck sleeve or a pack of FIVE. You can also get an extra Art Book. Due to requests, we will also be including an uncut sheet of cards and that will be coming a little later. 😀 

"The Eagle Eyed Jack has been known to fell his prey from 400 paces, but he may be best known for piercing the hearts of the fair maidens."

The Art: The Jack of Hearts is traditionally a one-eyed jack, meaning that in the illustration you only see one eye. This jack also tends to have an axe, but our Eagle Eyed Jack has replaced the axe with a bow (which is in the same location as the original axe).

The jack of hearts also holds a feather in one hand. Our jack is holding an arrow that has a feather for the fletching.

The board game theme in this illustration is Backgammon. His quiver has the backgammon design on it, and the quiver was made to look like a leather backgammon cup.

Game Highlight: Pitch

Rules for Pitch:  https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/pitch/ 

Watch A Video Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vIQ6vJ5YGU

We've already mentioned the trick-taking game Hearts and today we are going to talk about Pitch. Other similar games may be called All Fours, Cinch, or Seven-Up. Pitch can be a little bit complicated to score, but if you've ever played a game where you score at the end of the round by saying "High, Low, Jack, Game" then you are playing a game similar to Pitch.

How is Pitch (All Fours, Seven-Up, Cinch) played in the Mythic Kingdoms?

Most of the trick taking games work really well with the Mythic Kingdoms theme, especially those that declare trump suits. In the game Pitch, the first player declares the trump suit for the round as the first card they play. So, instead of calling the trump suit something boring like diamonds or clubs, always refer to the trump suit as Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, or Skeletons. 

Also, in the Mythic Kingdoms, you should use the word "challenge" in place of the word "trick" so that you begin each challenge by playing a card and each other player tries to win that challenge. Remember that the theme of the Mythic Kingdoms involves the royalty, champions and soldiers meeting together to compete in challenges.

New Mythic Kingdom rule: We have not played Pitch enough to have a good sense for what new rule might be introduced using the theme. So, we'll leave it up to our backers to think of ideas. Let's get the discussion flowing so that we can reach that 200 comments goal. 😀

Exciting Upcoming Stretch Goals

We'd like to mention briefly a couple of new stretch goals that we are working on.

First, we are working on finalizing the design for a custom brick box, a board game style box that will hold 12 decks of cards. We are looking forward to sharing that goal with you soon. Don't worry, you won't be paying more for this. We need to package the decks in a box anyway, so we're just going to make it really awesome, and we hope to lure a few more people into going with the Ultimate Pledge. 😀

Second, what used to be a pie-in-the-sky dream for us might be something that could come true. We are working with a tuck box manufacturer to make a 3-foil + embossed version of our tuck box. The design is shaping up to be something amazing. It adds a significant expense, so we will probably be making these ultra limited collector editions available as alternate pledge levels. But don't worry, the "Ultimate Pledge" is not just called that for no reason. If you want the best of everything we've got coming, stick with the Ultimate Pledge.

Ace of Diamonds, War, and the Deck of Many Things
almost 6 years ago – Sat, Jul 25, 2020 at 08:58:30 AM

Hi Fellow Gamers,

The next card we are featuring is my personal favorite—the Ace of Diamonds.

“After finding pockets of magical energy while mining deep into the mountains, the dwarves discovered they could form creatures from stones and other elements and then use this magical energy to bring them to life. These giant creatures were called golems, and their extreme loyalty to their creators made them perfect guardians of the dwarf mines. They quickly became the champions and favorites to win many challenges in the Mythic Kingdom tournaments.”

The Art: The golem is associated with mountains, stones, gems, and diamonds. Due to dwarves being fond of all these same things, Greg decided a Gem Golem would make a perfect champion for the dwarves. Greg sculpts clay maquettes to help him render believable form and lighting. He intentionally posed the golem to create a diamond-shaped silhouette.

The Deck of Many Things

We learned from some of our backers that these cards may be used in some role playing games as initiative decks or the Deck of Many Things. The idea is that a fantasy themed deck of cards will help maintain the immersive aspect of the game compared to using regular cards.

The Deck of Many Things is an artifact that is used like a randomizer to select from a chart of effects and items. The jokers are very important cards in that deck and represent the most awesome benefit and the worst punishment (e.g. +10k XP vs. -10k XP). These are represented as the Jester and the Fool.

Having reached the flash funding goal, Greg is now illustrating two variations for the jokers. Our versions of the "Jester" and "Fool" could be represented in a subtle way through the star in the upper left pointing down (for the Fool) and pointing up (for the Jester). These sketches for the fairies also show ideas for different expressions. Let us know what you think of this by commenting or messaging.

We will also remove the BoardGaming.com logo from the Ace of Spades to avoid the distraction it can cause when the whole point of an RPG is to be immersive. 

Rules for War: https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/war/

While a game of War pretty much plays itself, it does deliver fun through that wonderful anticipation of wondering what you will pull from your deck, and will it be high enough to win the round?

How is War played in the Mythic Kingdoms?

While champions are very strong, ten soldiers are strong enough to outmaneuver and overtake a champion. Yet those ten soldiers are still susceptible to the commanding power of royalty.

New Mythic Kingdom rule: 10 beats Ace. Kings, Queens, and Jacks still beat 10s. The benefit of this new rule is that there is no card that cannot be beat.

Question: What special rules could be associated with the Jokers to make the game War even more interesting?

Your Turn ...

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SHOUT OUT: Ravn IIII Playing Cards for Magic and Cardistry

Here is an awesome Kickstarter project that we are backing. If you are interested in magic (or just awesome cards), definitely take a look at Caroline Ravn's most recent project. I am a huge fan of that black foil on the tuck box.

New Stretch Goal - Carat DS2A Double Deck Sleeve
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 10:35:17 AM

Hello Fellow Gamers,

Thank you for helping us reach the next two stretch goals. Now, both the card backs AND the tuck boxes will use metallic inks.

✔ $12,500 Stretch Goal Reached

The premium metallic yellow colored inks will add an extra bit of awesomeness to the backs of the cards, without the added cost of actual gold leaf. 

✔ $15,000 Stretch Goal Reached

We will be using two premium metallic inks on both decks. These will be used for the border art and the light green and light purple for the illustration. The metallic inks are slightly more expensive than regular colors, but they will provide that little something extra to enhance the boxes. 

New Stretch Goal !

When we were designing the tuck boxes for these cards, images of torn and mangled boxes kept flowing through my mind. We were designing these cards to be played with, but without a good sturdy cardboard box, I could see the boxes getting thrown away and my cards getting rubber-banded or zip-locked and thrown in the box with the other very used cards. 

That's when I started looking for ways to protect the tuck boxes and I came across the clear deck sleeves by Carat Case Creations. I ordered a set of the DS1 sleeves, which protect individual tuck boxes, and I loved the idea of being able to protect the boxes while still seeing the awesome design of the box. Because we are mostly focused on providing pairs of decks, I worked with Sherman from Carat Case Creations to design a new sleeve that would fit two decks side by side. The image below is a prototype. 

We will provide these new Carat DS2A Double Deck Sleeves as an add on pack of 5 for $12.50 each (free US shipping), but if we reach our next stretch goal, we will include one FREE DS2A deck sleeve as a reward for each of pledge levels that include 4 or more decks, and yes that includes the early bird versions of those pledges.

These cases can actually provide extra protection for decks in shipping, but we haven't decided yet whether we will package decks inside the sleeves or include them folded flat (as they would come when ordered as an add on).

Check out the other products by Carat Case Creations at http://caratcasecreations.com/ and you can also follow @caratcasecreations on Instagram.

Highlighting the Queen of Spades and the Game Hearts
almost 6 years ago – Wed, Jul 22, 2020 at 08:37:57 PM

Hi Fellow Gamers,

When we started this campaign, we didn't realize that the Queen of Spades would be one of the community favorite cards. Well, she will finally get the attention that she has waited on for centuries.

"The Night Queen is obsessed with time, perhaps because as an immortal queen of the undead, she feels she has control over it."

The Art: The queens in traditional playing cards hold flowers. Instead of flowers, she is holding a sand timer from a board game. If you look closely, you’ll see that the upper portion of her sand timer is actually a rose bud. Subtle, yes.

The Night Queen title references the fact that the scepter held by the queen of spades looks like a bed post. In fact, the queen of spades is often referred to as the “bed post queen.” In Greg’s illustration, the top of her scepter hints at the shape of a spade.

Her crown also has a spade hidden in it. The design for the crown is based on a picture of an old corroded crown that Greg found.

In our first update, we invited you to share your favorite card games, and trick taking games were mentioned quite a few times. So, we'll start off by highlighting one of the simplest trick taking games: Hearts.

Rules for Hearts:  https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/hearts/ 

In Hearts, the object of the game is to get the LOWEST score. Each heart you win in a trick counts 1 point against you, but if you get the Queen of Spades, you get 13 points. And you do NOT want that.

How is Hearts played in the Mythic Kingdoms?

Instead of first opening this up for a general discussion via comments, here is an example of how to apply the Mythic Kingdoms to the game Hearts.

If the objective of Hearts is to get the LOWEST score, what is something that most of us do NOT want? I personally would not want to become an undead creature. In the Mythic Kingdoms, one way to play the game Hearts is to play the same rules as we know, but use the Spades suit instead of Hearts.

The goal of the game could be to avoid becoming undead. Every time you win a trick containing a skeleton, you take one step closer to becoming one yourself. So, avoid the undead and DEFINITELY avoid the Queen of Spades.

It doesn't need to be that simple, though. For example, maybe if you also won the Queen of Hearts, you could cancel the negative effect of the Queen of Spades.

Question: What do you think would be a good way to apply the Mythic Kingdom's theme to Hearts? Do you like these ideas? Do you have other ideas?

Your Turn ...

Incredible Start! Now the Fun Begins for the Mythic Kingdoms
almost 6 years ago – Wed, Jul 22, 2020 at 01:18:24 AM

Hello Fellow Gamers,

We cannot thank you enough and we're so excited that the Tournament of the Mythic Kingdoms is 100% funded. Now the fun begins!

First, you helped us reach that flash funding goal, and in 5 Hours instead of 48! This means that Greg will have a little more fun getting to illustrate variations into the 2nd Fairy joker and the 2nd Imp joker. We will update you on that progress later.

Second, you helped us reach the first stretch goal already. So yeah, that happened! But don't worry, we won't run out of stretch goals. 😀 

Now, each of the tuck boxes will have a custom seal sticker with the number of the deck. These are printed and placed on the boxes by USPCC prior to the cellophane wrap. We're thinking about a new design for these stickers other than a lock, possibly the Fairy for the nature deck and the Imp for the magic deck.

Third, let's talk about the theme a bit more.

The Story So Far...

The realm of the Mythic Kingdoms is a very unique fantasy world because instead of warring among themselves, the kingdoms settle their differences through tournaments and games. BUT, they don't necessarily play games exactly the way our world does.

Throughout this campaign, YOU ("the gamers") get to help decide what games these kingdoms play in their tournaments and what special rules they use. In our updates, we will be highlighting common traditional card games and inviting you to share ideas for how these games might be played within the Mythic Kingdoms. 

For now, use the comments section of the campaign to let us know YOUR favorite traditional card games. We will pick one to feature in our next update.

So, let the games begin!

By the way, you are more than welcome to forward this update to your friends. :-)