The Deck of Theseus

[Al Qədic]

So, I remembered something last night, which led to a morsel of an idea. I'm not sure if I still have them, but a couple times in the last few years, I've found random playing cards just out in public, underneath tables and chairs and such, each clearly from a different deck; some had cut corners, font sizes were different, etc. They weren't covered in sewer muck or anything, but they were a tad dusty and worn, so I picked them up, intending to use them should I ever lose those very specific cards from my regular deck. I remember having the brief thought "What if I found enough of these to make a full deck?" But now I have another idea: "What if I replaced all the cards in my regular deck with these random assortments?" I see this idea going two ways.

1. Obviously, most people are just gonna be misplacing generic Bicycle cards with red backs and regular type-facing...but what if someone were to start deliberately planting more exotic cards in public? Magic trick decks with marked and double-sided cards. Themed decks like the ones over here. Different sizes, fonts, suits. Homemade cards! Even just regular cards with some invisible drawings could be neat. Think of the kind of scavenger hunt that could happen around this: one spag plants two cards, wedges them between cement tiles. One random, regular card to get someone started on the hunt, and another one (like the little extra cards companies slap their logo or some game rules onto, or a Joker) written on in white ink, instructing them to Go forth and construct the Deck of Theseus. Some cards could leave clues for finding other cards. Hell, this could fit right in with the world of geocaching (Note to self: get into that again). Do this multiple times, and a couple lucky people in the right area could have a full deck, made up of multiple "generations" of scavenged cards, each generation with a special mark, logo, or date of distribution. I think this could be made interesting if coordinated right.

2. The other way I see this going, which would probably involve less street grime, random strange card hunting, and money lost on mutilating your own decks, would be for some creative spag to put their mind meat to work. Like the "homemade cards" idea above, they could design a 52-card deck of their own, and have each card be its own little thing, with different themes, designs, and ideas. Maybe each suit could represent a different philosophy, or one could team up with local street artists and have each card custom-painted. Color-code however you want, tell a story, make a mosaic, think of the possibilities!

...I'm gonna think about this some more while I read over my Mao rule-list and play Solitaire.

[altered]

I like this idea and want to do /both/.