[HN Gopher] The DIY Multideck
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The DIY Multideck
Author : vlugorilla
Score : 136 points
Date : 2025-01-03 09:13 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (diymultideck.mauri.app)
(TXT) w3m dump (diymultideck.mauri.app)
| pavel_lishin wrote:
| This reminds me of one of those dice I saw that can roll anything
| from a D4 through a D20, if not more. Technically usable, but ...
| complicated.
| rgovostes wrote:
| It is much easier with dice, you can roll a D20 then take the
| remainder dividing by D _n_ (plus one). But you must avoid
| modulo bias (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10984974) and
| re-roll for high rolls, which may be dissatisfying to players
| who roll a natural 20 on their D6 throw and need to roll again.
| grimgrin wrote:
| a lot of fun dice here https://www.mathartfun.com/dSpecial.html
|
| I like the "go first" dice
| flymasterv wrote:
| This is a fantastic essay and project, but the chances of getting
| anyone to play an actual game with it are basically zero.
| qsort wrote:
| I have read novels written by engineers. More often than not,
| they are unreadable. They fail to understand why people read
| (or write). They are an engineer's idea of what a novel should
| look like.
|
| In the most loving way possible and as a software engineer
| myself, this is an engineer's idea of what a deck of cards
| should look like.
| qwertox wrote:
| A _configurable_ deck of cards. It 's not like you see these
| in every store.
|
| That being said, I love the page. The layout, use of colors
| and the content.
| lukevp wrote:
| Right, but a card game with specific cards already chosen
| and designed for me that let the cognitive burden be on the
| game strategy itself is much more useful for the majority
| of people, and typically cost $5-10. This multi deck would
| be a nightmare with children too.
| qwertox wrote:
| Parent referred to this as if it were a novel written by
| an engineer, that it then, as usual, wouldn't be a good
| one. The off-the-shelf card games are a standard novel.
| These cards are not your average novel; you'd expect
| people to be into this unusual or for some even
| unpleasant genre and style.
| mftrhu wrote:
| They aren't that uncommon outside of physical stores, where
| board game nerds gather - off the top of my head I can
| think of at least three similar multi-game decks: Everdeck
| [0], Badger Deck [1], and Singularity Deck [2], while a
| cursory search nets me another dozen or so [3].
|
| There's also the Decktet [4], of course, even if it takes a
| very different approach than the rest (for one thing, it
| does away with traditional suits - it is a very interesting
| deck, and one I really like).
|
| [0] https://www.drivethrucards.com/product/291492/The-
| Everdeck [1]
| https://www.drivethrucards.com/product/130446/The-Badger-
| Dec... [2]
| https://www.drivethrucards.com/product/189681/The-
| Singularit... [3]
| https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/252876/playing-card-
| game-... [4] https://www.decktet.com/
| 7thaccount wrote:
| Just bought the decket and the book based on your
| recommendation. It looks neat. I've recently gotten into
| card games with my kid and it's a lot of fun. I'm hoping
| these games are half decent as well. Have you played
| many?
|
| On another note, I've really enjoyed finding one-player
| games that use a standard 52-card deck as well. There's a
| ton of interesting games out there.
| TeMPOraL wrote:
| All it needs is some artsy marketingy touch to sneak it past
| normies' defenses, and it'll shine :).
| stavros wrote:
| What, like _There Is No Antimemetics Division_?
|
| I think you read novels by bad writers, who happened to be
| engineers.
| qsort wrote:
| I have never heard of that book, but a quick Google search
| reveals that the author is in the process of "releasing
| version 2". Refer to the previous comment for my opinion on
| that matter.
| stavros wrote:
| Well, it's a fantastic book.
| ryan-c wrote:
| It's being rewritten for content licensing reasons.
| TJSomething wrote:
| In addition to the content licensing, it was released as
| serial web fiction presented in a wiki. Serial fiction
| usually benefits from significant editing to fit the
| structure of a novel.
| TJSomething wrote:
| Having followed qntm's work since _Fine Structure_ (2006),
| he 's really improved since then. He got a lot better at
| character writing with _Ra_ (2011).
|
| I think it's largely a matter of intentional practice. I
| think that some sci-fi writers don't prioritize honing that
| skill, since they just want to build a cool world and the
| story is a way to demonstrate that.
| aleph_minus_one wrote:
| > I have read novels written by engineers. More often than
| not, they are unreadable. They fail to understand why people
| read (or write). They are an engineer's idea of what a novel
| should look like.
|
| On the other hand: Greg Egan ([1], [2]) is a mathematician
| and novelist. His novels are sometimes considered to be
| barely readable (if you are not part of his audience). On the
| other hand: he _does_ seem to understand why people read his
| novels - he knows his audience. :-D Readers praise his novels
| for the worldbuilding (though commonly the story is
| considered to the weaker side of many of his novels).
|
| So I do imagine that such engineers who write novels
| perfectly know why people read - they just write for a
| different audience. :-)
|
| [1] https://www.gregegan.net/
|
| [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Egan
| xp84 wrote:
| It seems though like these are kind of a tool for a "game
| engineer" to prototype a game though. Not just a deck to keep
| around the house for general play.
| pinusc wrote:
| It baffles me that this isn't mentioned in the page, but a deck
| like this is extremely useful for testing while designing a new
| boardgame. They are very versatile and can likely emulate
| whatever wacky system you come up with for your game, which
| means you can iterate without having to print a new deck new
| each time.
| evv wrote:
| > It baffles me that this isn't mentioned in the page,
|
| The first paragraph says: "The DIY multideck is ideal for
| traveling, _prototyping new games_ , and trying games before
| buying." (emphasis mine)
| egypturnash wrote:
| I mean so's a bunch of index cards and some pens.
| forthac wrote:
| Can't beat zettelkasten!
| dcre wrote:
| It is clearly aimed at enthusiasts and game designers.
| andrew-dc wrote:
| I love these ideas, though feel I would prefer designs that (may)
| sacrifice some utility for aesthetics. That isn't a knock on the
| magnificent effort here, but just my own preference. It's likely
| the emojis that I'm not thrilled about, but I can also appreciate
| the reason for using them.
| Onawa wrote:
| You (and others in this thread) may be interested in my
| favorite set of cards to gift people, the ZSA Cards.
| https://zsa.fun/cards
| pryelluw wrote:
| Is gumroad or PayPal not available in Spain? Feels weird to
| WhatsApp someone to buy the cards. Anyhow, the design is
| deliciously complex. @Op, can you play briscas with these cards?
| tgaj wrote:
| I've never heard about gumroad in Europe. And many people do
| not trust PayPal (I don't).
| mauriciabad wrote:
| We do have PayPal, and that's what I usually use (along with
| crypto). I chose WhatsApp because the volume of sales is so
| low. I print the deck in batches when I accumulate enough
| orders, and using WhatsApp/email allows me to text customers
| when their deck is ready. It's pretty rudimentary, I know,
| haha.
|
| Yes, you can play briscas:
| https://diymultideck.mauri.app/games/spanish-deck/ (and also
| any other common deck)
| grimgrin wrote:
| I like unusual playing cards.
|
| Here's one I peek at from time to time:
| http://wiki.decktet.com/introduction-to-the-decktet
| greekanalyst wrote:
| It feels intimidating at first sight, but this looks like a very
| cool idea.
| gampleman wrote:
| I'm surprised they don't sell something like this in airport
| travel shops.
| charlieyu1 wrote:
| I like these decks, if only it is not so expensive to get it
| printed
| zubairshaik wrote:
| I find the Everdeck[0] to the the most elegant and interesting
| implementation of the super-deck concept. The sreator has
| explored and taken ideas from many other deck systems[1].
|
| [0] https://thewrongtools.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/the-everdeck/
| [1] https://thewrongtools.wordpress.com/2017/10/15/features-
| of-f...
| floydnoel wrote:
| ok, that is seriously cool. i already love some of those games
| listed on the landing page, thanks for the suggestion!
| citizenpaul wrote:
| I love it I really do. Great concept and nice site.
|
| However. Its hilariously unrealistic. Just memorize these 500
| simple glyph's and become a master of conceptual game design and
| you can play anything with this deck!
|
| The hard part is not the deck. Its finding another person that
| will actually learn all this so you can use it,lol.
| chis wrote:
| Yeah I think one of the funniest parts is that it doesn't even
| include the standard heart, diamond, club, spade suits.
| Picturing trying to explain to my grandma which suit is which
| as she begs for a normal deck of cards.
| mauriciabad wrote:
| Thanks for sharing, OP! :D I'm the creator of the DIY Multideck,
| and honestly, I didn't expect this much interest, it's super
| exciting to see!
| mauriciabad wrote:
| I agree that the main pain point is teaching new users how to
| use the deck. I wrote such detailed documentation because this
| project is very niche, and I thought board game geeks would
| love all this knowledge. However, after completing it, I
| realized it's overwhelming for a quick "Getting Started" guide.
| To address this, I've been thinking about creating a video
| tutorial on how to use the deck and writing a separate
| simplified manual, something more accessible for casual users.
| mauriciabad wrote:
| My next challenge is that I'm not making any profit from the
| deck right now. I'd need to lower production costs, invest in
| branding/marketing, and figure out distribution. Basically,
| find a publisher or handle it myself (probably through
| crowdfunding). I feel like I've got a validated MVP because
| real people are buying it, and with some improvements, it could
| reach a broader audience. Any thoughts or advice on this?
| avidiax wrote:
| I feel like you need to pre-populate some of the tiles with
| popular games. How you do this without running afoul of
| copyright is up to you. Maybe you use synonyms
| (good/evil/devil instead of liberal/fascist/hitler), have a
| variety of werewolf/mafia characters, etc.
|
| Then this can be marketed as "20+ games in 1" in airport
| giftshops, the idea being that you expand the market well
| beyond board game enthusiasts and prototypers to casual
| gamers.
|
| If this were a product from someplace that doesn't respect
| copyright at all, each card would likely just be a grid of
| miniaturized original cards from various games and some
| mapping/instruction cards, and maybe a crappy smartphone app.
| mauriciabad wrote:
| btw, if you're interested on the deck's development,
| check/follow this thread on BGG:
| https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3128477/the-diy-multideck-a...
| mdtrooper wrote:
| This reminds me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piecepack .
| prawn wrote:
| Remotely related to something I was wondering yesterday: outside
| of 'house rules'-type variations, are there major changes to
| common games that are viable, popular and catalogued somewhere?
| e.g., add a few pieces and turn Monopoly into a zombie horde
| game, or change Scrabble into a dungeon crawler or Uno into a
| space RPG.
| Hasnep wrote:
| There's some examples of games that you can repurpose to play
| other existing games on BGG, and they link to lists people have
| made: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1812755/list-of-games-
| you-c...
|
| More like repurposing games to play other existing games rather
| than the overhaul you're talking about.
| gerdesj wrote:
| Can you imagine how exciting 3D Bridge might be? The post game
| analyses would last the square of the normal time - yay!
| aleph_minus_one wrote:
| In school, we played a lot of Skat [1] in the breaks.
|
| Considering the emergence of 3D video games at that time, I
| indeed loved to imagine how a 3D version of Skat might look
| like. :-)
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skat_(card_game)
| sduff wrote:
| There have been many variants of this 'generic' card deck
| published on board game geek
|
| * https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/39987/one-deck (my own
| attempt)
|
| * https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/59655/rainbow-deck
|
| But for something different, I suggest looking at the Decktet,
| https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37301/decktet , which is an
| unusual multi suited deck, which people have ported games to use.
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(page generated 2025-01-05 23:02 UTC)