The deck came first

The book grew out of a game. Then the game grew out of the book.

It all started with a presentation I did not want to give. An ESAE session, a room full of association executives who have seen every slide ever made, and me with nothing new to put on a screen. So I tried a game instead. That session later became the introduction to the book.

On the way out of that room, the idea of a book took root. Over the following months it became Cards on the Table. And once the book existed, my mind went back to where it all began. If a deck of cards could produce a book, the book could now produce a proper deck. Push, then pull.

The first deck was hand-cut. My comms team helped me with the design, and we spent more time with scissors than any of us will admit.

Then came printing. I found an online printer, placed the order, and only then discovered it was in the United States. Flying the decks to Europe cost twice as much as the decks themselves. A second supplier shipped from the Far East: cheaper, slower, and still a long way away. In the end I settled on a small printing workshop in Italy. Maybe the language helped. It certainly helped that I could pick up the phone and explain what I meant by "feel".

Because feel turned out to matter most. A matt finish on the box. A plastic coating on each card, so they slide and snap like a poker deck. When people play, they should feel they hold something with real stakes.

Then the hardest question of all: the rulebook. How do you fit the rules into a box the size of the cards? Italian has a word for the answer: leporello. One long sheet, folded like an accordion until it fits in the palm of your hand.

Looking back, every persona took a turn in this project. The Data-Driven compared shipping costs. The Skeptic asked whether anyone would actually play. The Enthusiast chose the matt finish. The Consensus Builder kept the comms team on board. And the Quiet One folded the leporello, without a word, until it fitted.

The printed decks arrived this month. The first one sits on my desk, waiting for its first committee.

The Committee of Cozy Crisis is on sale here.