6 handed and 8 suit deck... opinions?

[jezzurp]

So I’m working on a deck that started as a project for a video game Im making, which I wanted to have a particular aesthetic.

For the game my original intention was to make 8 suit deck (and also create cards for 6 handed) just to make massive multiplayer games possible, really.

Now this has also become a print project I wondered what people’s opinions on 8 suit decks and 6 handed decks are?

Are they useful, desirable, collectible?

[Don Boyer]

So, you're looking at making a deck that's essentially like International Standard playing cards, but using twice the number of suits and a few extra ranks.  It's been done, and many times before, in fact.  On the whole, they tend to be more of a curiosity than something that catches mainstream attention.  The further you stray from the familiar, the tougher it can be to find an audience for it.  But there is a caveat to this...

Look at games like Uno - it's played far and wide, it's popular (or at least as popular as any card game using non-standard cards is), but it's sort of a stripped-down version of standard playing cards, in a way.  There's no court cards, though there are "special" cards - and the special cards have very simple instructions for their use.  There's a shortened rank structure rather than expanded.  And while there are more colors, there are also no suits.

If you're making specialized cards, make a specialized game to go with them.  Keep the game strategically simple, fun, easy to play.  Do try to sell them as a replacement for standard playing cards - sell them as a standalone, wholly-unique game all on its own.  The largest Kickstarter project to date was a fairly simple, standalone card game with a big sense of humor - Exploding Kittens.  The creators asked for $10,000.  The ended up raising over $8 million.  I'm not saying you'll automatically get those results, but I suspect that you'll do better making a standalone game rather than rejiggering standard playing cards into something new and unfamiliar.

[jezzurp]

So, you're looking at making a deck that's essentially like International Standard playing cards, but using twice the number of suits and a few extra ranks....

Yeah kind of. They’re normal cards. I was intending to make the extras eventually for the video game anyway so was thinking I would look and see if it was something people look for in physical format/ collectibles.

My approach is modular though so I’m thinking...

Vol1 - standard pips four families regular set
Vol2 - alternate pips four additional families but still regular format
Vol3 - basically expansion. Would feature the extra cards for all 8 suits and some bonuses bits and pieces

Plan to Kickstarter vol1 and do it if it gets interest, and if vol2 and vol3 seem viable put them in as seperate kickstarters after? Seems cleaner than having confusing rewards that trigger the different volumes although part of me feels like one Kickstarter for all three with the vol2 and 3 as high rewards/ stretch goals could work

[Don Boyer]

Yeah kind of. They’re normal cards. I was intending to make the extras eventually for the video game anyway so was thinking I would look and see if it was something people look for in physical format/ collectibles.

My approach is modular though so I’m thinking...

Vol1 - standard pips four families regular set
Vol2 - alternate pips four additional families but still regular format
Vol3 - basically expansion. Would feature the extra cards for all 8 suits and some bonuses bits and pieces

Plan to Kickstarter vol1 and do it if it gets interest, and if vol2 and vol3 seem viable put them in as seperate kickstarters after? Seems cleaner than having confusing rewards that trigger the different volumes although part of me feels like one Kickstarter for all three with the vol2 and 3 as high rewards/ stretch goals could work

There's an expression about keeping things SIMPLE...

Instead of going at it piecemeal and not getting all the pieces in place, I still think making it as a standalone game, unique from a pack of playing cards, might be the better way to go.  I'd even time it to be launched to coincide with the video game - the game will promote the deck as the deck promotes the game.

If you don't want to go that path, I'd still keep the whole thing as self-contained as possible, in a single Kickstarter project.  Trying to do it a piece at a time over three projects is a really good way to complicate things and confuse potential backers - and then what happens if one of the three doesn't succeed?