The Drunk Deck- WIP

[Olly Swinyard]

Hi, I'm a student from Falmouth, England, and had an idea for a deck of cards purely designed for drinking games. I'm not sure if it has already been done but I've made a few court card designs to give you the idea of what I'm planning to do. The back isn't done but I thought it would be good to get your feedback on the deck and see what everyone thinks.

Thanks,

Olly

[Don Boyer]

There's no need to reintroduce yourself, Olly - some of us remember the "SLICK Playing Cards" project's two attempts.

Consider for a moment this now-completed project, a moderate success at the time.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stayclassycards/bicycle-black-tie-playing-cards
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stayclassycards/bicycle-black-tie-playing-cards-part-ii
http://www.playingcardforum.com/index.php?topic=3442.0

You took a set of standard court cards, removed some weapons and flowers, replacing them with beverages - but aside from the back design, you called it a day.

Bicycle Black Tie takes it a step further - those traditional courts really look like the upper crust of high society, more like something out of the 1920s than the 1520s.  THAT was creative.

It's not that your design is terrible - it's that in order to stand out, a deck really has to stand out head-and-shoulders above the rest.  In high heels, this is barely above an off-the-shelf pack of Bicycles from the pharmacy or the grocery store.  In a pressure-cooker environment like Kickstarter, it looks half-baked.

If you want to make "the Drunk Deck," then really MAKE "the Drunk Deck."  Really do something with the traditional court designs, turn them on their ears - give the design something that will make people stop, take notice and say "I have to get that, without a doubt, even if it is a bit expensive - I can eat ramen for a week."  Without that, there's little point in consuming that much time and effort.

[Olly Swinyard]

I'm impressed you remember.

I hadn't seen the black tie deck before but I'm glad you brought it up.

The idea for the drunk deck was to be more of a novelty deck that people wouldn't be to precious about, seeing as they would be around a lot of drinks and are bound to get grubby. It was more of a fun deck that people would think is normal until they look a little closer rather than an all new deck in itself.

I understand completely what your saying, I means its not like it took much time to whip these up but I feel there could be something here if not for the playing card lovers but for the drinking game lovers.

Having said that I have been working on another deck for the last few weeks which will hopefully be more up your ally. I've only just finished one of the court cards and so it's not going to be done for a while but I thought I should show you.

[Don Boyer]

I'm impressed you remember.

I hadn't seen the black tie deck before but I'm glad you brought it up.

The idea for the drunk deck was to be more of a novelty deck that people wouldn't be to precious about, seeing as they would be around a lot of drinks and are bound to get grubby. It was more of a fun deck that people would think is normal until they look a little closer rather than an all new deck in itself.

I understand completely what your saying, I means its not like it took much time to whip these up but I feel there could be something here if not for the playing card lovers but for the drinking game lovers.

Having said that I have been working on another deck for the last few weeks which will hopefully be more up your ally. I've only just finished one of the court cards and so it's not going to be done for a while but I thought I should show you.

A "novelty" deck of that nature would sell if it was done cheaply enough that you wouldn't care if it got trashed over a series of poker hands or drinking games.  Custom decks have a tendency to be anything but cheap enough for this purpose.  Sure, they look a teeny amount cuter/sillier, but is it really worth the extra cost over a simple pack of Bikes?

If you can make them in a way that they sell for a buck a deck, then you might have something.  You'd have to go high volume and extremely low quality.  Think of your typical dollar-store deck - since yours would be in the same price range.  At the minimum, you'd have to make them cheaper than mass-market Bicycle decks.  Oh, and be prepared for a slim profit margin.

Always remember to take your target audience into consideration - in all categories, since your target audience will rarely be completely homogenous.

The new design...  I'm personally not a fan of it, but I do recognize there's some artistic merit there, something that a segment of the market would appreciate.  Show us when you've got more to show.