alt.hn

1/28/2026 at 2:38:21 PM

The Everdeck: A Universal Card System (2019)

 https://thewrongtools.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/the-everdeck/

by surprisetalk

2/4/2026 at 7:34:00 AM

Some guys made this website with instructions of how to setup/play games: https://everdeck-library.vercel.app/

I feel like they did a great job but didn't get enough visibility. It hasn't been updated in a while and has a limited selection of games, but it's a great attempt to centralize game mappings. I hope comunity embraces this or similar tools, as the huge BGG lists aren't really built for this.

They describe their website as: The Everdeck Library was developed as an alternative archiving option for the various games playable by the Everdeck. Most of the Everdeck’s game lists are available on online forums such as BGG and Reddit. The Everdeck Library takes the format of those game lists and expands upon them by providing in-depth information and interactivity from being able to filter out certain games to knowing how the Everdeck maps to the game’s cards and rules. Sifting through the Everdeck’s 120 cards for the game you’re playing is quite involved and forgetting a card or not knowing what a card does can heavily hinder gameplay experience. Tabletop games are a way to gather people around and the last thing you want is fumbling around with rules and setup.

by mauriciabad

2/4/2026 at 12:51:47 AM

I actually own this, but I find that, in practice, remembering the mappings is tricky for most players. Also, it's surprisingly annoying to not have rotationally symmetric cards, or needing to hold the cards in a different way.

by TJSomething

2/4/2026 at 8:20:58 AM

In my multideck I mitigated this by using emojis as suits, so you can write notes on your phone. For the Everdeck you can use: ♣♠♥♦ coin, crown, moon, star (hacker news doesn't support emojis)

by mauriciabad

2/4/2026 at 3:11:33 AM

I would love to own this deck but I can tell I would be way too irritated when trying to actually use it. It's like an art piece dedicated to combinatorics.

by plagiarist

2/4/2026 at 12:54:50 AM

Yeah :c I feel the same way. They’ve made a variant with more traditional poker deck look but the same rank/suits of the ever deck that I’m excited to try one day

by spencerflem

2/4/2026 at 5:20:42 AM

It is a great project that inspired me to make another multideck based on it. https://diymultideck.mauri.app/manual

Mine is compatible with more games, has a companion website that helps you prepare games, and (in my opinion) is easier to understand.

by mauriciabad

2/3/2026 at 4:41:35 PM

Really cool deck! Anyone out there play Mu? It's an _excellent_ trick taking card game. One of the few (complex, trick-taking... I'm not counting stuff like Uno in this genre) card games that I know of that works really well with 5 or 6 players. This deck _almost_ would work for Mu, but it'd need different point values. (I keep having to rebuy new Mu games when the deck wears out so I've been contemplating other possibilities.)

by msluyter

2/4/2026 at 7:24:24 AM

In my multideck you can play Mu: https://diymultideck.mauri.app/games/mu-and-more-revised-edi...

Basically, you write the point values in the card and use numbers 0-11 where 1=2 and 8=9 (1s and 7s in original game). My cards are made out of plastic, so they don't break. And you get the bonus of being able to play many more games. ^o^

by mauriciabad

2/3/2026 at 11:23:47 PM

Mu is awesome, one of my favorites. I especially like the "Mu and More" and "Mu and Much More" decks that have other games you can play in the box. It is a bit fiddly customizing the decks for the different games, but it is amazing how much game is in that one box. Njet was mentioned in another comment, and that is one of my go-to games when playing with non-gamers.

Mu is my favorite trick taking game of all time, but it is difficult enough that I don't get a chance to play it very often.

by zhynn

2/3/2026 at 4:48:58 PM

I went down the rabbit hole of alternative games for this deck, and saw Mü mentioned in the forums with some tips alongside a table. Hopefully that helps, though I did notice someone commented about needing to remember the point values.

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/303652/more-games-playabl...

by drpfenderson

2/3/2026 at 5:30:49 PM

I'm currently looking for some board/card games to play with friends so thank you for mentioning Mu, it sounds fun!

Also I didn't know those were called trick-taking games [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-taking_game

by quibono

2/3/2026 at 10:52:02 PM

"oh hell!" is another great trick taking game for multiple players. it's lightweight but lots of fun.

by zem

2/4/2026 at 3:23:04 AM

I'd also recommend the variant Wizard for this.

Similar basic game and mechanics, though there are 8 additional cards to the 52 card deck - four wizards and four fools. A wizard can be played instead of any other card, the first wizard played takes the trick. A fool can be played instead of any other card and a fool will not take the trick (unless you've got the extreme oddball situation where you've got all the cards for a trick as a fool - then the first fool played wins the trick).

One of the things about it being a 60 card deck is that it evenly plays 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.

The European edition of the game has beautiful artwork (though confusing compared to the French suited cards) that make a long mural when an entire suit is laid down end to end.

by shagie

2/3/2026 at 6:01:21 PM

It is. I do. It is. My simple description of it is that its bridge with revealing cards for bidding and dynamic partnerships.

There is an iOS version of it - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/m%C3%BC/id351448383 (and it runs on my mini - https://imgur.com/a/eJsx4Wd )

And yea, the point values would be the problematic parts.

Incidentally, there's been a new issuing of the game: from the publisher - https://shop.czechgames.com/mu-more/ though it appears to be out of stock there, there is a reseller with the new version https://www.cardhaus.com/mu-more/

---

I'd also suggest Nyet ( https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1107/nyet ) which is another odd deck count game (3x1, 1x[2...13]) x 4 suits. It was originally a ruleset for the Mü deck where you excluded rules from the next round ("no - not that rule" -> "Nyet")

by shagie

2/3/2026 at 11:41:34 PM

The mystic bent limits the usability of the deck, since most people I play with, when playing games like Sheepshead try playing with more traditional decks. As well as traditional Tarot decks from Russia (OG tarot, not modern designs).

Vintage Tarot decks include more art/influence from the current ruling empire, not new-age mystic nonsense.

by SLWW

2/4/2026 at 3:25:43 AM

I own this, works well, works great in fact for a lot of those basic "we made a game out of a normal deck of games" type games.

by blahblah23

2/3/2026 at 7:57:58 PM

I think my biggest complaint with this deck is that the Os and 0s look the same in the chosen font. They are in opposite corners on the card and one should always be colored and the other black, so shouldn't be easily confused in an oriented spread or in orienting the cards, so it is mostly just an aesthetic complaint.

by WorldMaker

2/3/2026 at 8:28:44 PM

I’d love to see a variation on the concept that minimizes information on each card. It would of course result in a larger deck, but would reduce visual noise while playing games.

I think one colored suit symbol and one rank is the most needed. Some cards could have symbols like Uno’s “skip” card as their rank.

by Willamin

2/4/2026 at 12:56:46 AM

yeah, I agree. This is a very cool idea but the visual design of the cards needs some tightening up

by tbmtbmtbmtbmtbm

2/3/2026 at 9:26:47 PM

What is it about a good card game that is so appealing? I am not a fan of dice games at all, but give me some cards to hold, and I'm in.

by NoSalt

2/3/2026 at 11:06:51 PM

Unfortunately I'm already heavily invested into the Deckmaster system.

by c22

2/3/2026 at 8:20:38 PM

Are there any good svg free deck designs out there? Like the traditional looking ones?

by Trufa

2/3/2026 at 4:26:26 PM

21$ deck, 27$ delivery... no

by rspoerri

2/3/2026 at 5:15:19 PM

I have one. The cards are pretty well made and it's a nice deck. Decent playing cards do tend to be expensive.

by imzadi

2/3/2026 at 5:00:52 PM

Must be US-based, it’s $6.14 for the cheapest shopping for me

by pimlottc

2/3/2026 at 5:15:20 PM

And then for that shipping price, takes 4-6 weeks for delivery? Or you can have it 8 days for something like $130? I don't get it.

by pcj-github

2/4/2026 at 12:45:56 AM

It's not the delivery that takes that long. It's the printing. It's a print on demand item, printed in the United States. The decks don't currently exist and the current print queue is just that long. If you want to jump the queue, that will be extra.

by TJSomething

2/3/2026 at 4:44:27 PM

Finally we have a deck that can support my new game Calvin Deck.

by fellowniusmonk

2/3/2026 at 5:15:18 PM

This looks complicated! The only card games I know are patience and Uno. Oh and top trumps, but not sure if that counts...

by ifh-hn

2/3/2026 at 4:13:54 PM

this feels like excellent foundations for a board game. fascinating!

by jupitr

2/4/2026 at 12:53:32 AM

I own a few of these- they’re lovely things but I’ve not found them easy to bring out in a group. The same author’s made a variant that loses some features to gain looking like a very standard poker deck (with just more numbers and suits) that I really like the look of

by spencerflem

2/3/2026 at 5:26:40 PM

> The Everdeck is designed with a ruthless combinatorial efficiency. Beneath its minimalist pen-and-ink design lies layers of mathematical and linguistic patterns. This isn’t just a deck with haphazardly placed extra glyphs; rather, it aims to be both beautiful and practical.

This paragraph was designed as ruthless LLM slop.

by tines

2/3/2026 at 6:03:49 PM

That paragraph was written in 2019 which predates LLM slop. Some people just write that way.

by shagie

2/4/2026 at 7:45:47 AM

Even if that was written with AI, it perfectly describes what the Eveedeck is. A sophisticated and meticulously crafted deck of cards.

But I agree that since LLMs it's hard to know what's truly exeptional vs AI slop.

by mauriciabad

2/3/2026 at 6:33:27 PM

Whats worse than AI slop? Humans misclassifying other humans' outputs as AI slop.

by buellerbueller