Looney Labs Icehouse Mailing list Archive

Re: [Icehouse] Zark City: non Anglo-American Decks

  • FromBrian Campbell <lambda@xxxxxxx>
  • DateSat, 3 May 2008 22:20:14 -0400
On May 3, 2008, at 8:12 PM, Slev Sleddeddan wrote:

Hi all!

I've decided to throw a really nice deck of cards into my Icehouse bag to play Zark City with. This is easy as I collect cool decks of cards. The problem is that may of the cooler-looking decks are not 52 card Anglo-American decks.

At the moment, I'm thinking of using my 52 card Italian deck, numbered 1-12 (10-12 are face cards) and using Latin suits (Cups, Discs, Staves, Swords).

Alternatively, I could go for a 56-card deck, with the fourth face- suit in it.

Has anyone tried Zark City with decks like this? Does the different spot/face ratio make an appreciable difference?

I've been looking for some Latin and German suited decks, but I haven't been able to find any. Do you know a good source to get them in the US?

Sadly, I haven't had a chance to try Zark City yet, so I can't say much about how it would play with such decks. Though, you say it's a 52 card deck; if you only have 1-12 of each suit, what are the last 4 cards?

Anyhow, Zark City is another variation on the Zarcana theme (along with Gnostica), so playing it with a Latin suited deck brings it right back to home. It was designed to be easier to play with components that more people have (playing cards, rather than tarot cards), but as long as you have the Latin-suited cards, it sounds like a great match.