[Icehouse] Zark City: non Anglo-American Decks

[Brian Campbell]

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.