The Dealer’s Tarot

As we enter our final week of the Summer with the kids going back on Friday, this is going to be a slightly unusual preview. Why?

Because The Dealer’s Tarot isn’t a board game in a box — it’s a book of 22 original card games, all designed by Brad Talton and published by Level 99 Games, and all played using a deck of tarot cards.

Now, you can absolutely grab a standard tarot deck and play these straight away. But luckily (cause I didnt own a deck of tarot cards), they’ve also created five brand-new tarot deck designs to accompany the book, each sized and styled specifically for play (unlike normal tarot cards that are traditionally bigger) and they look great. The one you can see in the pictures here is the constellation deck but I have also had a chance to look at some of the other decks and I am particularly looking forward to the “Gamer Deck”

Whats really great about the book is the variety of games on offer:

• Solo puzzles and multiplayer games
• Trick-taking classics and deck-shredding challenges
• A real mixed bag of experiments that show just how flexible a tarot deck can be much in the same way a deck of playing cards but obviously taking advantage of the differences in the decks.

Luckily you don’t have to completely take take my word for it for once. Level 99 have released three sample games for free: Calamity, Tango, and Aviators.

You can download them here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rXkqU3VP06AYXGst9ryk58cyGwvrk_rs/view

Here’s a quick taste of what each one is about:

• Calamity (2–6 players, 20 mins): A push-your-luck game where players draft cards from a central pool. Push too far and risk a “bust” when three of the same suit appear, losing everything you haven’t banked. The trick is knowing when to stop and when to gamble for more. We really liked this one as pushing your luck is one of our favourite mechanics and not something you come across as much in traditional card games.
• Tango (2 players, 15 mins): A head-to-head duel where both players build on a shared tableau, scoring for sets, runs, and hitting exactly 31. Kindaplays like a wierd cross between Blackjack and Poker and Jack specifically enjoyed this one.
• Aviators (2–5 players, 20 mins): A tactical set-collection and movement game. Players move pawns across a grid of cards, picking them up to form scoring sets, while the board collapses beneath them. Movement becomes trickier over time, and clever positioning can cut rivals off entirely.

Our Plays So Far

I do have the complete book and I’ve already tried quite a few of the games from the book (though I asmit I havnt squeezed in all 22 and Level 99 have asked me not to spoil those just yet). What I can say is that the designs are varied, clever, and often surprisingly deep. Some are quick fillers, some are solo challenges, and others could happily sit alongside the classic card games you already know.

The Dealer’s Tarot is heading to Kickstarter hopefully later this month, and I’ll be sure to remind you when it goes live. This feels like a really fun project that I am genuinely surprised hasn’t been made years ago.

It’s also the kind of thing that might just start me down a dangerous new path… I can already feel myself being tempted to start collecting tarot decks!

If you’re curious, definitely check out those three free trial games. They’re a great way to see what this book is all about, and they just might surprise you with how much game is packed into a simple tarot deck.

Disclaimer: A PDF of the Dealer’s Tarot was shared with me by Level 99 Games. All thoughts and opinions are however, our own, and we have not been paid in any way for this preview.