Magic Tricks

The Egypt deck is part of the lavish "World Tour Set", a collection of five decks that celebrate exotic locations around the world, each deck representing the culture of a different country.

Courtesy of Cairo Cards Ltd, we head to Egypt - where of course the preferred means of transport requires us to hop aboard a local camel, as pictured on the tuck box cover. The back of the box reminds us that not all of Egypt is desert, and if we know where to look, there might be an oasis with palm trees to be found. Perhaps it will help if we have good company along the way. As the side of the tuck box reminds us, these are "Preferred Playing Cards of Egyptian Pharaohs". Whether it's native Egyptians or visiting Egyptologists, as long as someone knows the route!

The back design is one of my favourites in the series, and although it is a one way design, it features a simple yet inspiring pattern that is suggestive of ancient mosaics, and the artwork one might find in this part of the world. The two main colours of the face cards are an earthy red (hearts and diamonds), reminiscent perhaps of desert terrain, and the dark emerald green (spades and clubs) that is used on the tuck box.

I especially appreciate the court cards, all of which feature Egyptian images, and really help bring this exotic location to life. A somewhat surprising choice has been made to have the court cards of the spades and clubs match, and the same with the court cards of the hearts and diamonds, meaning that their are six unique designs in total. The font used on the indices is also stylized, and fits well with our Egypt encounter.

As we farewell Egypt, our last view is of the two matching Jokers, which both feature a lonely camel, with the pyramids fading from view in the background. We've enjoyed our stay, and undoubtedly we'll be back to play with this deck some more on another day. - BGG reviewer EndersGame