STARDECK is a custom deck of poker-sized playing cards, the design and illustrations were done by Lunar Saloon, and printed by The United States Playing Card Company. The project was launched on Kickstarter and is waiting for our support. The people behind Lunar Saloon are my good friend Alex Griendling and his wife Meg Griendling. As we could expect the illustrations are beyond stylish and in addition to that there is a beautiful Kickstarter-exclusive wooden etching where they worked with Neutral Ground to produce.
We struck out to create STARDECK after unsuccessful attempts at finding a well-designed set of sci-fi themed playing cards. Most are based off of existing properties like Star Wars or Star Trek, and their face cards are decorated with uninspiring photography. In response, we created our own world and filled it with richly illustrated characters in the style of classic card art - Lunar Saloon.
STARDECK tells of four archetypal sci-fi factions as they vie for control over Proxima B, Earth's terrestrial neighbor in the Proxima Centauri system. Proxima B's native population, the aliens whose subterranean existence has earned them the moniker "Spades", defend their world from outside invaders. Their overwhelming numbers are enabling them to fend off Earth's militarized colonization effort. The Hearts, an advanced robot population, aid Earth's various civilian and military factions via combat, manufacturing, and espionage; all while advocating for equal treatment and representation on Earth. The Club, Earth's most decorated combat unit, was the first to touch down on Proxima B. Quickly overrun by the Spade horde, its surviving members defend their landing site from the planet's hostile natives. The Diamond Corporation, currently profiting from a lucrative arms market, are diversifying into natural resource commodities, arriving on Proxima B with the goal of claiming rights to the planet's unassigned lands.
Card designs and illustrations
About Lunar Saloon
Lunar Saloon is the Minneapolis-based creative studio of Alex and Meg Griendling. With nine years of industry experience, we've worked with clients like Google, Tumblr, IGN, Game Informer, and Double Fine. We hope that STARDECK will be the first of many fun products in our studio's lineup.
