Over the course of their long (or rather short?) history, tarot cards have fulfilled many functions in varying contexts, and in our workshop we will consider them under the specific perspective of game studies and -design.
As a common point of entry and to lay shared groundworks for hands-on experiences and academic work, we will have a quick look at the cultural history of the card deck, touching upon its uses for entertainment purposes, esoteric and spiritual practices, as well as narratology, psychology, and psychotherapy. We will then together collect and define the potential affordances and constraints, potentials and pitfalls, these 78 cards can provide us with for ludic designs within the NAMES framework, before you will get your hands on some tarot game prototypes, both card games but also a TTRPG system, in small groups. Our workshop finally ends with a plenary discussion of your experiences and potential possible future developments in game design using one of the most famous decks of cards in the world.