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Variations on the Singularity Deck layout
🕑 Added 2022-07-23 21:40:00 +0000 UTCGiven the ideas and potential changes to the Singularity Deck brought up in my previous post, I thought this would be a good time to bring up some other potential ideas for the deck.
I've gotten the request to swap the dice for numbers a few times, so I wanted to explore some options and get feedback.
For this post I'm only showing off white bordered designs to not confound the discussion by adding too many variables. Check out the previous post if you're not sure what I'm referring to.
A bit of background before I dig into some of the potential layout ideas.
What are the dice for?
The very first edition of the deck (from way back in time) only had numbers:
The dice were added in the second edition, because they opened up the number of games that can be played with deck. Two examples would be Hanabi and Medici which both require multiple copies of cards ranked below 6. It also lets the deck be used as a set of D6 dice and connects it with the Singularity Piecepack. It also gives the deck a bit more of a unique identity. All of that said, for 90% of what people use the deck for, having the dice doesn't provide substantial utility so I get the desire for a more traditional layout.
Okay, so here are some of the ideas I'm exploring:
Asymmetric with numbers and dice:
This is the current layout and presented for a point of comparison.
The thinking behind the asymmetric design is that it makes it easier to ignore information when its not being used as your just orient the cards for which set of ranks you're using, however this comes at the cost of having to reorient cards.
Symmetrical with only numbers:
A traditional layout, with the exception of the having the rank and suit on all four corners.
Symmetrical with numbers and dice:
A little bit of both options. If you happen to be one of the folks who would prefer the numbers only option, give me a vibe on how okay you are with this being a compromise. Is your feeling "numbers-only for life" or "I don't mind having the dice as long as it's symmetrical."
For the moment, I'm not making any decisions. I want to collect everyone feedback on the border question from the previous post and the layout question here to see if there is any broad consensus. In hindsight I should have been getting more feedback along the way instead of back tracking a bit. The nice thing with print on demand cards is that there's a world where I support all of these combinations of options. Ideally though, I want to focus on the things folks like the most.
Let me know what you think in the poll (you can select multiple options if you're equally happy with some combinations) and in the comments!
Comments
Imo having the dice gives more options for a relatively small hassle cost (and we're not going full-on like SnepShark's Deck of many dice), so having them in addition seems like a good choice! (also I just noticed the secondary suits/logic gates disappeared in v3)
V
I'll be honest: I was expecting "symmetric with numbers and dice" to mean design with numbers on one pair of corners and dice on the opposite pair of corners! Love the symmetric design given, though!
