The Decktet’s vast potential

For years, I have said that if you were to only make one PnP project, it should be the Decktet. And, to be honest, I haven't changed my mind yet about that. It is one of the versatile one-and-done projects I can think of.

The Decktet is a game system that consists of a deck of 45 cards with six suits. The clever bit, and this is honestly clever, is that almost all of the cards are mulit-suited.

I have seen decks that add extra suits and ranks. The Decktet, having the cards be more than one suit? That I hadn't seen before and I'm not sure I have seen it since. Added to that, the deck is divided between 36 basic cards and nine extended cards. And eight of those extended cards are triple suited while the last one has no suits at all. 

And the Decktet has some crazy artwork, which I would describe as Tarot-adjacent, cartoony  and grotesque. It's definitely memorable.

A game system is just a concept without actual games. And the Decktet has some that I quite enjoy. The three that really stick with me are Magnate, a resource management game; Emu Ranchers, a Lost Cities variant that I like more than Lost Cities in some ways; and Jacynth, a Carcassonne-style tile laying game. All three very different games and, if they were all there were, the Decktet would still be worth it.

As I wrote that list out, I realized that those three games are like a snapshot of a slightly earlier time in gaming, a time when German Family games had more of the market share. And, frankly, when I first got into designer board games. So I might be a little biased.

I have been looking back at the Decktet because I have been actively exploring the Mysticana game system. To the point where half my blogs for the spring might be about it. It's a very different approach, only three suits that are interlocking and module expansions. Its also much more solitaire focused, which plays more to my current gaming.

I have only lightly looked into the Decktet's solitaire options and, quite frankly, I wasn't interested in what I saw. However, that was before I had any real interest in solitaire gaming. I really need to go back and take a second look. 

While Decktet games are still being developed, its heyday seems clearly in the past. And I think that is really because here isn't a company driving its development. Sadly, that’s a real thing. Support makes a difference.

That said, the Decktet remains a very versatile gaming system with a game library worth exploring and plenty of untapped potential.