The World in Play
The World in Play

Author: Timothy B. Husband

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 2016-01-20

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 1588396088

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In the late Middle Ages and early modern times, card playing was widely enjoyed at all levels of society. The playing cards in this engaging volume are unique works of art that illuminate the transition from late medieval to early modern Europe, a period of tumultuous social, artistic, economic, and religious change. Included are the most important luxury decks of hand-painted European playing cards that have survived, as well as a selection of hand-colored woodblock cards, engraved cards, and tarot packs. The casts of characters they illustrate range from royals to commoners. Many feature animals such as falcons and hounds, while other portray such diverse objects as acorns, helmets, or coins. This is the only study of its kind in English and the only one in a generation in any language. The insightful narrative by Timothy B. Husband discusses the significance of playing cards in the secular art of the period and also recounts the varied stories they tell, conjuring the customs and facts of life of the time. Little is known abut the games played with these cards, but as Husband notes: "The playing out of a hand of cards can be seen as a microcosmic reflection of the ever-changing world around us—a world in play—a view that the creators of the cards under discussion here would seem to have shared.

The Art of Playing Cards
The Art of Playing Cards

Author: Rob Beattie

Publisher: Chartwell Books

Published: 2018-10-30

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 0785836691

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The Art of Playing Cards is your tour guide to a standard deck. This handbook covers the classic games, tricks, and skills you'll need to become an expert card shark. There’s something about opening a new pack of cards. It doesn’t matter whether you buy them at a filling station to while away a few hours on the road or if they’re a classic deck of Bicycle cards bought specifically for a poker night—they smell the same. There’s the same whiff of possibility, of hands to play or chances to take, of bets to win and of fun just waiting to be had. THE GAMES: There are thousands of games we could have included, but along with some of the most popular, we’ve also chosen those we think are the most fun, the most challenging, and the most exasperating. Also, much of the beauty of card games is that they vary so much, and we’ve included plenty of tips for trying something a bit different. Of course, when faced with so many variations and different games, it would be impossible to include them all here; we only hope that you like the ones we have squeezed in. THE SKILLS: Shuffles, cuts, ribbon spreads, fans, flourishes, false cuts, forces, false shuffles, finger lifts, double lifts… they’re all here, explained in a simple step-by-step fashion that makes it easy for anyone to pick them up. THE TRICKS: Here we’ve concentrated on tricks we think are easy and approachable because there are few things more frustrating than trying to do something that’s simply out of your league or utterly beyond your physical abilities. Thus, you won’t find any magician’s glue or funny specialized decks of cards; there are few props, and no fiendishly complex sleights and palms… and there are definitely no cards up anyone’s sleeves. We hope the result is a book that you’ll be able to come back to again and again, whether it’s to brush up on your shuffling or because you want to learn a new game or a new trick for the holidays. If you do that, then this book has served its purpose. Oh, and always remember, it’s not the cards in your hand that count, it’s how you play them.

The Art of Game Design
The Art of Game Design

Author: Jesse Schell

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-11-06

Total Pages: 604

ISBN-13: 1498759564

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Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible. Written by one of the world's top game designers, The Art of Game Design presents 100+ sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game's design, encompassing diverse fields such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software enginee