Not the fortune-telling tool you thought, but a classic trick-taking game
by BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame
An introduction to the French Tarot deck
You have almost certainly heard of a Tarot deck. But you are also likely to associate it with fortune telling, or the occult. Typically, the only experience that the average English-speaking person has had with Tarot is in that esoteric context. And it is true that Tarot decks have been popularly used in this way since the late 18th century, and their usage for divination is still a thriving practice around the world today.
But what few people realize is that the Tarot originated as a deck of cards used in trick-taking games, and is much older than the occultic practices it is commonly associated with today. The Tarot deck started out as a regular deck of cards, much like the one we use for card games today, but with the addition an extra court card in each suit, plus 22 additional cards as a special trump suit for trick-taking games.
The resulting deck was later `hijacked' by the occult for very different purposes. But a Tarot deck is basically just a 78 card deck, which even today is used for playing the game of French Tarot.
In this article I would like to introduce you to the Tarot deck and distinguish it from its occultic cousin. My goal is to give an overview of its composition, its history, and briefly touch on the game it is mostly used for playing. I will also showcase some beautiful modern Tarot decks created specifically for card games.
What is a Tarot deck?
Practically everyone will be familiar with a regular deck of playing cards. It consists of 52 cards, with four different suits of 13 cards. Each suit contains the numbers 1 through 10, along with three court cards, a King, Queen, and Jack. Two Jokers are also usually included, although historically these were never part of a deck of cards, and only entered our decks as a result of the influence of games like Euchre and Poker in the late 19th century.
In contrast, a modern Tarot deck (for card games) consists of 78 cards, and is practically identical to the just-described standard deck of 52 cards, with a few small differences:
● Each suit has 14 cards instead of 13, the extra card being a Knight. So four court cards accompany ten number cards: King, Queen, Knight, and Jack. In French these are: Roi, Dame, Chevalier, and Valet, hence the indices R, D, C, and V commonly used in Tarot decks. The Knight is added in rank between the Jack and the Queen.
This addition brings the deck up to 56 cards.
● There are 22 additional cards representing a trump suit. This consist of cards numbered with Roman numerals from I to XXI, along with a Fool card. Trump cards were initially called trionfi, and you will sometimes still see this word used in connection with Tarot.
This addition brings the deck up to 78 cards in total.
And that is it. So actually, it is very similar to a standard deck, but with different names/icons for the suits, an extra court card in each suit, and an additional trump suit of 22 cards. It is not hard to see how a deck like this lends itself well to trick-taking games.
Tarot decks also go under some other names, like the Tarock (German) or Tarocco (Italian), which are simply the word "Tarot" in other languages. Somewhat confusingly, these terms are also used to refer to a wide range of German and Italian games played with a full Tarot deck, or played with a stripped down and smaller version of this deck.
Did Tarot decks originate in the occult?
You will often come across the claim that our modern deck of standard playing cards was developed from the Tarot deck. Occultists and fortune tellers like to make the suggestion that Tarot decks are in fact the true and original form of playing cards, and that the symbolism of Tarot cards lies at the heart and background of the traditional deck of cards.
Some even defend the view that the Tarot deck represents a deck that was used by secret societies like the Masons or Knights Templar to transmit secret information. According to this interpretation, there are secrets within Tarot cards that go back to esoteric books and mystical playing cards from ancient times, and they pre-date standard playing cards.
In reality the actual chronology is in the reverse order. First came the standard deck. Then came the Tarot deck, as a variant that built on early playing cards by adding extra cards used for trick-taking games. And only much later did this expanded deck get used for the occult in a way that was never the original intention.
Experts about the history of the Tarot, such as Michael Dummett, have demonstrated that Tarot cards had a separate and much later origin than regular playing cards. The earliest surviving Tarot cards date from a period well after the oldest standard playing cards. Tarot cards first appeared in northern Italy around 1420, and the original use of the extra 22 cards had no connection whatsoever with cartomancy; they were simply trump cards. If you like the idea of trumps in a trick taking game, well that is an innovation that was first introduced with tarot games.
The 22 separate designs of the trump suit typically had illustrations, and these were added to a standard deck to create a larger overall deck of 78 cards, which was primarily used for more elaborate and complex games than was possible with a standard deck of 52 cards. From Italy they eventually spread throughout Europe.
Some of the symbolism and significance of the original illustrations from the era has been lost. They may have been used as a means of instruction and education during this period. But the most likely explanation is that they simply reflect 15th century cultural fashions in Renaissance Italy. There is no reliable evidence that they were connected in any way with the occult or with fortune-telling. Modern mystics that claim that these images and their interpretation goes back to ancient traditions simply has no historical basis and lacks evidence.
Dummett is a respected scholar, and his academic work on this subject is very compelling and conclusive. He proves that Tarot cards were used exclusively for card games in the Milanese court from the 15th century, and only 400 years later French occultists at the end of the 18th century tried to invent an older esoteric history for them, to justify their mystical use. I will share some of those later developments in the last part of this article. In reality, occult interpretations of the Tarot deck were unknown prior to this, and until that time Tarot cards were exclusively used throughout Europe for a popular trick-taking game.
As a game, Tarot especially enjoyed the heights of popularity from around 1730-1830, although it continued to be played since then, and there are regions in Europe today where it is still frequently played. In short, did the Tarot deck originate in the occult? No, it simply developed as an expanded form of a regular deck, to make it more suitable for more complex trick-taking games.
What did the Marseilles Tarot look like?
The Marseilles Tarot (also called Tarot de Marseilles) is of great historical importance, and it is frequently referred to both in discussions about Tarot used for card games, as well as discussions about Tarot used for cartomancy.
This 78 card deck originates in Italy, but spread to France and other parts of Europe, where it was popularly used for card games. Its Italian origin explains why instead of French suits it uses the Italian suits Swords, Cups, Pentacles, and Wands. The French names used for these are Épées (Swords), Coupes (Cups), Deniers (Coins), and Bâtons (Batons), and they correspond to the French suits Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs.
Shown here is an 1890 version of the Marseilles Tarot that was published by Lequart in Paris, France, showing the 3 in each suit.
The four court cards in each suit are in order of rank: Valet (Knave or Page), Chevalier/Cavalier (Horse-rider or Knight), Dame (Queen) and Roi (King). This also explains the indices typically found in modern French Tarot decks today. As an example, here are the court cards for the Cup and Coins suits from the same deck.
The trump cards were typically named and numbered with Roman numerals. An example of one deck from this period denotes the trump cards as follows:
● Le Fol (Le Mat) (The Fool)
● I. Le Bateleur (The Juggler)
● II. La Papesse (The Popess)
● III. Impératris (The Empress)
● IIII. L'Empereur (The Emperor)
● V. Le Pape (The Pope)
● VI. L'Amoureu (The Lovers)
● VII. Le Charior (The Chariot)
● VIII. Justice (Justice)
● VIIII. L'Ermite (The Hermit)
● X. La Roue de Fortun (The Wheel of Fortune)
● XI. Force (Strength)
● XII. Le Pandu (The Hanged Man)
● XIII. La Mort (Death)
● XIIII. Tempérance (Temperance)
● XV. Le Diable (The Devil)
● XVI. La Maison Dieu (The House of God)
● XVII. Le Toile (L'Étoile) (The Star)
● XVIII. La Lune (The Moon)
● XVIIII. Le Soleil (The Sun)
● XX. Le Jugement (Judgement)
● XXI. Le Monde (The World)
Here are some examples of the trump cards from the same 1890 deck.
How did the Tarot develop after this?
The Marseilles pattern had a huge influence on the look of subsequent Tarot decks. It has been said that all Italian-suited tarot decks outside of Italy descend from this type, except for a few early French and Belgian decks that were also influenced by the Tarocco Bolognese (a 62 card tarot deck found in Bologna).
It also had a huge impact on the look of Tarot decks used for cartomancy. It was the Marseilles Tarot that was first used popularly for divination in the late 1700s, under the influence of mystics in Paris like Antoine Court and Jean-Baptiste Alliette (Etteilla). This explains why modern tarot decks used for cartomancy have much in common with the Marseilles Tarot. One of the most popular and influential decks for Tarot card reading is the Rider–Waite Tarot that was first published in 1909 by A.E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith. It relied heavily on the structure and symbols of the Marseilles Tarot, although Smith and Waite added their own interpretations and symbolism, especially to the number cards.
Around the same time that the Marseilles Tarot was beginning to be adopted for use in cartomancy, French Tarot players were starting to move away from it. Since it was primarily intended for card games, they weren't bound to its images or symbols. So from the mid-18th to early 19th centuries, the Marseilles Tarot lost favour, and instead many animal Tarot decks were used throughout Europe. These came to use the French suits which were dominating the playing card industry at that time.
Shown here are some examples of court cards and trump cards from an animal tarot deck that goes back to the mid 18th century. As far as the trump cards went, many decks simply depicted aspects of rural or agricultural life. Later the Art Nouveau genre was also a popular influence on the artwork and design of Tarot decks from this period of history.
What does a modern Tarot deck look like?
Since French Tarot is the game most commonly played with a Tarot deck, it will not come as a surprise that Tarot decks for gameplay are readily available especially in France. Shown below is an example of what a typical French Tarot deck used for card games looks like today.
Arguably the most common form of Tarot deck you will find today is something called the Bourgeois Tarot pattern (or alternatively Tarot Nouveau), and within this there are some variations. This artwork dates back to decks used in Germany in the mid 19th century, and seems to have originated around 1865 with German playing card manufacturer C.L. Wüst.
The number cards and court cards are similar to those of the traditional 52 card deck, with the addition of the Knight (Chevalier). Instead of Italian suits of Swords, Cups, Pentacles, and Wands, the corresponding and familiar French suits of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs are used. Given the popularity of the game in France and Europe, the indices are typically French rather than English, so instead of K, Q, C, and J, the French R (Roi), D (Dame), C (Chevalier), and V (Valet) are used.
For the trump cards, clear and central Arabic numerals are used instead of Roman numerals. Over time the one-way design of trump cards used earlier in the history of the Tarot deck was replaced with two-way artwork, to make it easier to identify cards in hand without needing to reverse them. The artwork often depicts scenes from the life of the middle class bourgeoisie, or alternatively rustic and rural scenes featuring agriculture.
Many different playing card manufacturers in Europe produce inexpensive Tarot decks for today's market, including French playing card manufacturer Ducale. The artwork is quite standardized, and modern Tarot decks produced by other playing card manufacturers Cartamundi, Fournier, Piatnik, Grimaud, and F.X. Schmid all produce similar looking decks.
What is the game of French Tarot?
My own interest in Tarot was sparked by two things. Firstly, I'm a keen collector of custom playing cards. While reading about playing cards and browsing related materials, I often stumbled across Tarot decks. So I was curious, and keen to learn more about them. Secondly, I am a keen player of card games with a traditional deck, and I especially love trick-taking games. So that makes me an ideal potential candidate to enjoy French Tarot.
At this stage, however, I've only just got to the point of learning the game, and exploring how it works and figuring out whether I like it will be my next step. But I did want to share a brief overview of French Tarot and what it is like.
While the game of Tarot seems to originate in Italy, its most popular form today is what is known as French Tarot. You can readily find the rules for French Tarot online:
● Pagat: https://www.pagat.com/tarot/frtarot.html
● Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Tarot
In French Tarot, one player is the "Declarer" and plays against everyone else. The Declarer aims to get enough points to fulfill the contract they bid at the start of the hand, while the other players aim to prevent this and play as a team.
The gameplay will immediately feel familiar to anyone who has played a basic trick-taking game with a standard deck, except that now you have an additional trump suit which never changes. Since this suit has 21 cards it is considerably larger than any of the non-trump suits. Most standard trick-taking conventions apply, but where possible you must trump, and must play a higher trump than previously played.
Many would agree that French Tarot plays like a slightly simpler and faster moving version of Bridge. But unlike Bridge, you are not trying to win the most tricks, but to capture specific point-scoring cards during tricks. The bidding process is also simpler, and you don't need to memorize things in the way you do with Bridge.
While French Tarot can be played with three players, most people would only play it with four or five players. In a five player game the high bidder plays with a secret partner by calling a king, and whether or not you prefer the five player game above the four player game depends on how you enjoy the aspect of shifting partnerships and the extra swinginess of the five-player game. Opinions can vary quite a bit about this, although the four-player game arguably involves more pure strategy.
In his article "Getting into traditional Tarot games: Where to start?", Andrew Wong recommends getting into French Tarot by beginning with Simplified Game of Tarot. This is a traditional-styled Tarot game devised by Mary K Greer where players don't play on teams, and without bidding. He then suggests moving to Troggu, which incorporates bidding, before finally making the transition to French Tarot and other Tarot games.
What do people think about French Tarot?
The praise
Even though many people think of Tarot as a divination tool first rather than as a card game, especially in the English-speaking world, there are many people who continue to enjoy the tradition that is French Tarot on a regular basis, and who love the game enormously. As a trick-taking game it doesn't have the complexity of Bridge, so it is more appropriate as a social game, while still requiring strategic and tactical play.
As evidence of the love that French Tarot gets as a game, here is a small selection of the many positive comments about it over on BoardGameGeek, which is the world's largest website for card games and board games:
● "Probably the best of all classical card games." - Zerbique
● "Underrated game, highly addictive." - Unexpected Party
● "The bidding process is much simpler than in Bridge, which makes Tarot a superior game in my view because you don't have to memorize pages of information, and the card play is more subtle." - olivier6
● "King of card games after poker. So many games tried to have the same feel but nearly always fail miserably." - Aszalyn
● "Love this card game. The asymmetrical aspect, and the shifting partnerships are great fun. The bidding is tense, and the scoring is awesome." - The Deliberate
● "Indisputably the best card game ever created." - annatar_
● "The grandfather of all trick-taking games with 600 years of History (and still going strong in France)." - a_imajica
● "Over 20,000 deals played. Very pleasant game. Highly underrated." - Pyjam
● "All the forms of Tarot are great games. It's a shame they're relatively unknown in English speaking lands." - wmichaelshirk
● "This is my favorite trick taking game; superior to Bridge I would say." - General Snafu
● "Great trick taking game ... I've played hundreds of hands." - themilkcrate
● "A venerable classic of trick taking. Will always play into my very old age." - faqtotum
The criticism
So why might you not like French Tarot? Even though it is considerably simpler than Bridge, some people still find the few complexities that are involved in the rules, the bidding, and the scoring too fiddly and clunky, and a barrier to getting into the game. You also need to manage very large hands which can be up to as many as 20+ cards. As with many games of this sort, luck of the draw can be a real factor, and not everyone appreciates that. Some people really don't like the swingy nature of the five player game, while others prefer the more social and casual feel that produces.
Can you play other games with a Tarot deck?
Absolutely. In that sense a Tarot deck is just like a regular deck of 52 cards, which has the potential for being used for all kinds of games. If you want, you can strip a French Tarot deck of the 22 trump cards and the 4 knight cards, and you have the equivalent of a standard deck.
Furthermore, Tarot games represent a large family of many different card games, often popular in certain regions of Europe. To learn more about some of the many Tarot games that exist, I will start by pointing you to some free resources:
● Tarrochi: An introduction to the many games played with tarot cards (2009) by Jerry Neill Furr
This is an open source book of 225 pages that was originally made available as a free PDF download at tarocchino.com. A copy is also available over at the Internet Archive. It is an independently compiled and published rulebook for a number of European Tarot, Tarocchi, and Tarock card games.
● Card Games: Tarot Games by John McLeod
John McLeod's Pagat website is excellent for all things card games, and he also has lots of information about different games played with a Tarot deck.
● Tarot Card Games by Wikipedia
The Wikipedia page about Tarot card games has an extensive list of different tarot games, along with helpful information about their common features and types.
Many books about card games do include the rules for French Tarot. But two books can be especially recommended if you really want to study this comprehensively.
● Twelve Tarot Games (1980) by Michael Dummett
This book gives extensive details about numerous Tarot games from around Europe, all of which are still played today in countries like Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Austria, and Hungary. A common element to all the games is that winning doesn't require a specific number of tricks but rather winning specific cards in the tricks won.
● A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack (2004) by Michael Dummett and John McLeod
This is a two-volume book that covers things far more exhaustively. As well as tracing the history of Tarot games, this book gives detailed rules for more than 200 games played with a Tarot deck.
What modern Tarot deck is especially good for games?
If you are keen on getting a Tarot deck for card games, but prefer the familiar English indices of K, Q, C, and J instead of the French R, D, C, and V, what are your best options? Standardized Tarot decks with French indices, like those pictured above, are readily available, especially in Europe. But there are few decks which have a full set of 78 cards with English indices. The good news is that some excellent ones of this type do exist, and I will cover some of them.
Let me first introduce you to Elettra Deganello, who is a freelance visual designer and professional illustrator who hails from Italy, and has a love for creativity, artistic vision, and tradition. She has been making a real mark in the playing card industry with her original artwork and gorgeous custom decks of playing cards. As evidence of this, she has been nominated for several awards by 52 Plus Joker, the world's largest club for playing card collectors and enthusiasts. Her recent portfolio includes two gorgeous and high-quality Tarot decks that I personally love and need to show you.
Elettra would be the first to acknowledge that both of these decks were inspired by an idea from Jean Maillard. Jean was born in Genoa, and has a wealth of personal experience with card games including French Tarot. It was his passion that sparked Elettra's own interest in these decks. His idea and meticulous research lies behind much of what you are about to see here, so to some extent, he is the co-creator of both of these decks. Elettra's artistic skills as a graphic designer and illustrator then made this a reality.
● Genoese Tarot (2022) by Elettra Deganello
The Genoese Tarot was produced in 2022, and was printed in Europe by well-known playing card manufacturer Cartamundi.
The tuck box uses a vibrant green, and is finished with metallic gold. The artwork used for the card backs was inspired by the traditional ornamental tiles (laggioni) decorating staircases and interiors of Genoese palaces, and draws on several artistic influences.
The goal of this deck is to honour Genoa's long tradition with the game of tarot, and stylistically to combine the elegance of classic Belgian-Genoese family of card patterns with the imagery of the famous Tarot de Marseille. Historical evidence shows that Tarot cards originated in 15th century Northern Italy as an extension of a regular deck of playing cards, with Liguria in particular having a long history of being a home of tarot card production and players.
The Genoese Tarot consists of a mammoth 88 cards, all bridge-sized. These include the usual 16 court cards, 40 numerical cards, 21 trump cards, and the Fool card that are common to Tarot decks. In addition there's an additional trump card (Invexendon), three Jokers, and six rule cards explaining different card games.
As previously mentioned, Tarot decks typically have four court cards, with a Knight (Cavalier) ranking between the Jack and the Queen, and designated in this deck with a C for Cavalier, to avoid confusion with the King.
For game-play purposes a deliberate choice was made to use two-way court cards typical of the Genoese pattern, even though the French ancestor of the this pattern had one-way court cards. The one-way cards of the original French deck had extra details (e.g. the small dog climbing up the leg of the Jack of Spades, the fan held by the Queen of Clubs) that were lost when it was replaced with a two-way design, so Elettra has restored some of these novel elements into the artwork.
The cards also include the original Genoese names on opposite corners. An interesting feature of decks from this region in Italy is that even though French suits had been used for centuries, they still commonly used the names of Latin suits, which explains the use of the words coppe (Cups) for Hearts, and dinae (coins) for Diamonds. Elettra also included corner indices for gameplay purposes, even though Tarot decks originated in an era where indices were not yet adopted as a convention for playing cards.
The number cards have a clean design typical of French-suited decks, with one exception: the 7 of Diamonds. That is because in the Italian game Scopa and its variants, this card has a special significance as the il settebello. It is a nice touch to give this card some extra love to designate its importance in certain games.
The artwork for the trump cards was inspired by the famous Tarot de Marseille, and the reason for this choice is that it was mass produced by the playing card manufacturers of the Republic of Genoa. Some details of the artwork were drawn from 15th century hand-made decks. Once again, functionality for gameplay is important, and that is why the trumps are clearly numbered on the corner indices. The addition of the colour blue (not found on the other cards in the deck) also helps distinguish them from the non-trump cards.
One interesting feature of the trump cards is that they are not exactly symmetrical. Older Tarot decks typically showed the same scene but from the perspective of Fortune when viewed in one direction, and from the perspective of Misfortune when viewed from the other direction. This symbolism has been lost in decks like the Tarot de Marseille, so Elettra has tried to honour tradition by incorporating this important element in her artwork. The Wheel of Fortune card is a good example of this.
The Ace of Hearts is decorated with a gryphon dominating an eagle and fox. This refers to an old motto of the city of Genoa crushing its enemies.
The pictures shown here really don't do justice to the gleam provided by the gold cold foil that is present on all the cards! This gold foil looks particularly beautiful as part of the artwork of the Trump cards.
An extra card named the Invexendon (a term referring to a clumsy move, and sometimes translated as "butterfingers"), is a tribute to an unnumbered trump mentioned by Michael Dummett in his list of Unresolved Problems Concerning Tarot and Italian Cards.
Three Jokers are also included, which give flexibility for playing a variety of different games with the deck, including those you might play with a standard deck of cards. The design of the Jokers includes a picture of Janus, the first king of Italy who founded Genoa, along with a Latin inscription mentioning his name.
Three double-sided rule cards are also included. These summarize the key points of the rules for the following games: French Tarot, Chinze (Ligurian Tarot), Piquet, Troggu, Belote, Coinche, Scopa & Scopone, and Cirulla & Cirullone.
Besides the Classic Edition pictured above, there's also a corresponding Deluxe Edition which has a more luxurious tuck box, plus stunningly beautiful gold gilded edges.
● Tarocco Genovese (2024) by Elettra Deganello
The Tarocco Genovese was produced in 2024, and is effectively a second edition of the Genoese Tarot, with a different look and some other changes. This deck was produced by Italian playing card manufacturer Dal Negro, and the quality is excellent.
The cards are bridge-sized, and include the usual 16 court cards, 40 numerical cards, 21 trump cards, and Fool card that are common to Tarot decks, plus an extra Invexendon. The back design features the iconic red cross of St George.
Elettra Deganello loves to build on tradition, and that is evident in the colour palette she's used here, which was inspired by a Tarot de Marseille deck printed in 1830 by the Recchi brothers in a town in Liguria. Each suit has its own colour. The suit pips have also been changed from the previous version, and now all the Aces are illustrated, not just the Ace of Hearts.
Once again the court cards feature the Cavallo (C) or Knight alongside the standard King, Queen, and Jack. The cards make use of metallic gold ink, and although this isn't as impressive or shiny as the cold foil in gold used with this deck's predecessor, it is still an extra touch of luxury that helps it stand apart from your average playing cards.
The number cards have a relatively standard look, although there are indices on all four corners, and each suit uses a different colour.
All of the Aces are numbered with a 1, as is more common in Tarot-style decks, and feature additional line artwork. The Ace of Hearts is especially noteworthy, and the artwork here is a tribute to a Bolognese Tarot made by Genoese card-maker Solesio in the 1820s. It also pays homage to the historical tax stamp once required on playing cards.
The 21 trump cards feature colourful illustrations much like its predecessor. Although this version features some changes, the iconic Marseilles Tarot is still represented here.
Included with the deck is a companion booklet written by Jean Maillard, who did the research for the ideas behind the deck. This booklet includes information about French Tarot.
These are both lovely decks that are beautifully presented, and combine quality with the elegance typical of Elettra Deganello's playing card designs. Their homage to the traditions behind the modern French Tarot deck gives them added significance, and they are most certainly a welcome addition to the ranks of high quality Tarot-inspired playing cards.
What other modern Tarot decks are suitable for card games?
One of the above two decks from Elettra Deganello would be my top recommendation if you are looking for a Tarot deck that is suitable for card games. But there are some alternatives to choose from.
● Decks with English indices
If you are after a full Tarot deck suitable for card games and that has English indices, here are a few other candidates that I'm aware of.
The Standard Playing Card Tarot (2021) by Enigmagic Studios
This deck was created to be just like a standard deck of 52 cards, but with an additional Cavalier/Knight and an additional trump suit in the standard style. The goal was to produce a Tarot deck that would work just as well for card games as for cartomancy, and to have artwork that fits in smoothly with a standard deck of cards. So effectively it is just like a traditional deck, but with some additions.
For the trump suit, the card number is clearly labelled on the indices for functionality, along with a dagger pip to help distinguish it, along with the card name. The Knights/Cavaliers use the expected C for the indices.
Rare Triumphs Tarot (2021) by Ian Cumpstey
Ian Cumpstey has designed several decks of custom cards that draw on old playing card patterns. In 2018 he produced Pike and Clover Playing Cards, which was a redrawing of the standard English-pattern in the style of the historic Marseilles Tarot. A few years later he added 22 Trump cards to this 52 card deck. In addition he added four Knights (designated with Kn), and result was the 78 card Rare Triumphs Tarot.
While all the number cards have clear indices, they have vibrant artwork that echoes some of the historic origins of traditional Tarot decks. The cards are standard poker sized.
BRuT Tarot (2015) by Uusi
Uusi is the brand of artists Peter Dunham and Linnea Gits, a creative team that employs a fusion of traditional art styles to create a variety of interesting designs and products. When they applied their skills to the world of playing cards, they met with enormous success. Uusi has since produced several Tarot decks that have enjoyed acclaim and success, mostly for artistic reasons.
Their BRuT Tarot is especially good for card games. They describe it as a hand-painted, modernist take on the traditional tarot and playing card deck. The style was inspired by early 20th century modernism, Art Brut, and Brut Architecture, while the imagery was loosely based on the early Marseilles Tarot from the 18th century.
Instead of using cups, coins, wands and swords for the courts, Uusi decided to use modern French suits so that the BRuT deck could remain as multi-functional as possible. The 21 trump cards still provided ample opportunity to explore more traditional Tarot themes.
Living On Allotments Tarot (2022) by Sai Beppu
This Tarot deck is the work of Sai Beppu, who along with her husband Trick Kuma, is a big fan and advocate of trick-taking card games. Her deck first appeared in Japan in the usual Tarot size.
It has been brought to a wider audience by BrownCastle Gamesin a new edition with poker-sized cards. There are indices in all four corners, with standard French suits and pips, but each suit has its own colour: green, yellow, blue, and red. The French equivalent of the King, Queen, Cavalier, and Jack is included on the court cards as well, but in smaller print: Valet, Dame, Chevalier, and Roi.
The deck also comes with four bonus cards (The Dragon, Phoenix, Hound and Mahjong), which increases the scope for the games that can be played with it - including Tichu, a very popular partnership trick-taking game that uses these cards.
The Deck of Sailors (2025) by Victorian Clambake
This 90 card deck was produced by independent game developer Evan Massie and his team at Victorian Clambake. They created the game "The Caribbean Sail", which is described as a dark and whimsical 8-bit adventure about sailing the world in the 1700s. The Deck of Sailors was inspired by the black and white 8-bit style of the video game. One of its goals is to honour the tradition of the Tarot deck being used for playing card games rather than for cartomancy, and is intended to be a playable deck in the first place.
As a nod to the fact that the Tarot deck originally used Coins, Cups, Swords, and Polo sticks instead of the French suits commonly used today, the suits they've used for this deck are Coins, Swords, Hearts, and Skulls. The 22 trump cards are labelled with Roman numerals. Besides a complete 78 card tarot deck, there are also bonus cards such as reference cards, game cards, and four extra Aces.
● Decks with French indices
There are plenty of "standard" decks that use French language indices for the court cards, and have a relatively standard look for the trump cards, as pictured at the start of this article. But there are also many novelty decks which take advantage of the trump cards to include whimsical artwork, or add a thematic aspect to the entire deck. Given the historical origin of the Tarot deck and the regional popularity of the game of French Tarot, it will not be a surprise that most of these use French indices.
Tarot Aux Armes d'Épinal (1991) by Grimaud
This deck from playing card manufacturer Grimaud is typical of the many French Tarot decks that exist. It has French language indices, and while the artwork on the cards is fairly standard, the trump cards and court cards feature customized artwork of French military scenes.
Tour de France 2024 Tarot (2024)
This is another typical example of a Tarot deck that has received some customization to commemorate something special, in this case the 2024 Tour de France. The trump cards correspond to the different stages of the 2024 Tour, while the court cards feature whimsical artwork in keeping with the theme of this famous bike race.
Paris Olympics 2024 Tarot (2024)
This deck was produced by Ducale, and is another instance of the many custom Tarot decks created to commemorate something special. At the same time it is clearly intended to remain very practical and playable for card games.
Tarot Philatelique (1990)
The Tarot Philatelique (or Philatelic Tarot) is also geared for playing French Tarot card games, while having cross-over appeal due to the novelty artwork. The trump cards picture French stamps, as do the court cards and Aces, while the number cards are styled like standard cards.
Tarot Asterix (1997)
This more whimsical novelty deck features the famous French comic series Asterix. The trump cards are double ended, each picturing two scenes from the books, while the court cards and number cards have a standard French Tarot look.
● Decks without indices
There are also Tarot decks in the "faro" style, i.e. without indices. Historically this is what most decks looked like prior to the end of the 19th century, since indices are a relatively modern innovation. Since we're so used to playing games with cards that have indices, decks without them are not as suitable for playing games as they could be.
Alan Tarot by Argio Orell
The Alan Tarot (or Il Taroccho di Alan) was originally created in the early 1900s by Argio Orell, and has been produced by playing card manufacturer Modiano for over a century since. The artwork is in the early 20th century Italian Art Deco style, and features figures from a range of different cultures and occupations.
Playing Marseille Tarot (2020) by Ryan Edward
The artist behind this deck is Ryan Edward, and it was produced by US Games Systems. It is described as "marrying a humble pack of French-suited playing cards with the classic Tarot de Marseille." The influence of the traditional Marseille deck is evident in the artwork, but it has a more playful and slightly whimsical feel.
In creating this deck, Ryan was motivated by the fact that the Tarot originated as a card game. In his words: "Tarot cards are playing cards. In their original, most authentic form, they were designed for playing cards." Even so this deck still leans somewhat towards cartomancy because it comes with a guidebook about card meanings.
Why are Tarot decks often associated with the occult?
Tarot cards were only used for cartomancy for the first time around 1750, which is more than a couple of centuries after the expanded Tarot deck was first conceived and used for card games. Fortune-telling with Tarot cards was only popularized in the latter half of the 18th century, and it is not hard to see how the colourful images of the Tarot deck did lend themselves well to this purpose.
Jean-Baptiste Etteilla (a deliberate reversal of his actual name Alliette, to make it appear more mystical) was one of the first and most influential fortune tellers of the time, and is considered to be the first professional Tarot occultist to make a living by card divination. He claimed that the Tarot cards were linked to ancient Egypt, and he assigned esoteric meanings to them. Even though scholars have since demonstrated Etteilla's claims to be fictitious, many of his interpretations are still used in cartomancy today.
Antoine Court de Gébelin, a Frenchman in the late 18th century, made similar claims that Tarot cards were derived from the occult Book of Thoth. This supposedly originated in ancient Egypt, was the source of all knowledge, and was written by the Egyptian god of writing. Studying the Book of Thoth was claimed to reveal secrets about humanity and keys to ancient knowledge.
Many modern day practitioners of the occult and voodoo continue to perpetuate the belief that the Tarot is embedded with secret symbols and images that hail back to ancient times, and that it gives answers, direction, and spiritual guidance. For instance, it is often asserted that the 22 cards of the major arcana correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, even though claim this lacks credible evidence.
Particularly influential was Arthur Edward Waite, whose approach to the Tarot deck at the start of the 20th century would influence all subsequent Tarot playing cards. He was a member of an occultic society called the Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn. The popular Rider-Waite Tarot was first published in 1909, and in many ways its designs became a standard. Most of the images of cartomancy cards that I've included in this article show this deck. The Rider-Waite Tarot deck was influenced by the Marseilles Tarot, especially for its structure, but it added images and symbols for the number cards to make it easier for cartomancers to ascribe meanings and stories to these.
Aleister Crowley's Thoth deck, which was painted over the course of several years (1938-43) by Lady Frieda Harris under Crowley's direction, was also very influential. It deliberately included many occultic elements, and some will even find it disturbing.
Despite its claims to be a tool to uncover the secrets of both past and future, it seems most likely that the Tarot is not a mystical key to the past, but rather that layers of meanings have been ascribed to it over time. Serious historians remain convinced that its origins lie in an innocent card game, and that occultists have bestowed it with a far greater significance than it ever had to begin with, adding meanings that were never part of the original Renaissance-era Tarot decks.
Academics like Michael Dummett have done extensive research on this topic and make a compelling case that the Tarot deck originated as popular trick-taking game in 15th century Italy, and that occultic interpretations were unknown prior to the 18th century.
His groundbreaking and mammoth book The Game of Tarot (1980) provides a comprehensive study on the origin and development as playing cards. On the basis of historical data, Dummett makes a convincing case that Tarot cards were created in 15th-century Italy for use in trick-taking card games, not for divination, and that this game had an important place in European social and gaming culture. The result of careful and meticulous research, he provided the historical evidence which proved what many scholars had long suspected, namely that occult interpretations of Tarot only emerged in later centuries.
This book is considered to be a highly credible and authoritative source in both academic and historical circles, and anyone with a contrary opinion and who maintains that Tarot has a long history and origins in cartomancy will have a huge job on their hands in order to counter the weight of his argument.
Though somewhat dated, The Game of Tarot is best read alongside Dummett's later works, including two important collaborations with Ronald Decker. The first of these is A Wicked Pack of Cards (1996), which covers the origins of occult tarot from the late 18th century through the mid-19th century. It focuses on the formation of key esoteric interpretations by figures like Court de Gébelin and Etteilla, laying the foundation for later occult traditions.
A History of the Occult Tarot (2002) picks up where Wicked Pack leaves off, tracing the development and spread of occult tarot from the mid-19th century to the 20th century, including the influence of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley, and modern tarot movements.
If you need convincing on this point, read the six page journal article published by Dummett in 1985 which covers his main thesis, and is entitled "Tarot Triumphant: Tracing the tarot" (transcribed here). Edmund Leach's article "Tarot Triumph", which appeared in London Review of Books in 1980, is a review of Dummett's first book and also gives a good overview of its main ideas. Another good place to start reading on the subject is this excerpt from the foreword of History of the Occult Tarot (2019).
Despite all this convincing historical research about the origins and significance of the Tarot, Tarot decks today are still widely used for cartomancy and divination. And to be fair, Tarot readings are not just about predicting the future. Some people also use a Tarot deck as a tool for personal reflection and gaining clarity. So it is not just used for fortune-telling, but also as a means of thinking more deeply about your life, emotions, and decisions.
Tarot decks are also popular simply as works of art for collectors. If nothing else they give artists and creative designers a larger canvas to work with, resulting in some very artistic and beautiful designs.
How are Tarot decks used for cartomancy different than those used for card games?
There's a huge market of modern Tarot decks, and many do have beautiful artwork, so it is not surprising that collectors are drawn to them. Tarot decks used for cartomancy are not radically different from the French Tarot decks used for playing games, at least not in terms of their overall design and composition. They use the same basic structure, but add more extravagant artwork and mystical symbols, considering their intended usage for fortune-telling, while some functional aspects like two-way courts or indices become unimportant and tend to be absent.
One of the first differences you will notice is that the suits of a Tarot deck used for cartomancy often differ from the traditional French suits of Spades, Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds. Instead, the four suits are often similar to the traditional Italian suits of Swords, Clubs, Coins, and Cups, although the Clubs are typically called Wands, Rods, or Staves, and the Coins are typically called Pentacles or Disks. This difference is largely because cartomancy Tarot decks had their own evolution and development from the Marseilles Tarot. You could use these for card games if you really wanted, but the fact that the suits are different will be a significant barrier for most people.
Since esoteric Tarot decks are not used for card games, they rarely have functional indices. When playing card games, you typically rely on the corner indices to identify the cards in a hand. But Tarot readers doing cartomancy will usually have someone select a "spread" of a few random cards which they'll turn over. This is why many modern Tarot decks simply dispense with corner indices altogether, and why they also often have one-way designs. As a result, while many modern Tarot decks used for cartomancy do look beautiful and often have lavish art, unfortunately most of them are simply not suitable for playing card games.
Another difference relates to the terminology. The 78 cards that make up a modern Tarot deck used for cartomancy are commonly divided into two main parts, and this usage is especially used when the Tarot deck is employed for divination purposes:
● The Major Arcana (greater secrets) consists of the 22 numbered trump cards
● The Minor Arcana (lesser secrets) consists of the 56 cards in four suits
While referring to the two parts of a deck as the "Major Arcana" and "Minor Arcana" is common in cartomancy, you will not find these terms used when the Tarot deck is used for card games.
The Major Arcana commonly used today are as follows, numbered with Roman numerals from I through XXI with the Fool being unnumbered: The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World.
Also different is the term used for the Jack. In Tarot decks used for cartomancy this is usually referred to as a Page. As a result, the court cards in Tarot decks used for divination typically consist of a King, Queen, Knight, and Page.
One final point needs to be made about the size of the cards. Most modern Tarot decks - including those used for card games - don't have poker-sized cards, but cards that are longer and narrower. This is true both of Tarot decks used for esoteric purposes, as well as French Tarot decks used for card games. There's a parallel here with bridge-sized cards, which are narrower than poker-sized cards to enable card gamers to easily hold a large hand of cards in the trick-taking game Bridge. Much the same applies to cards used for playing French Tarot, and many Tarot decks use these larger and narrower cards.
Are there hybrid decks that combine the suits used for cartomancy and those for card games?
Several creators have blended the traditions of Tarot decks used for card games and those used for cartomancy, and several decks of this type have appeared on the market in the last decade or so. These typically blend these traditions into a single deck by cleverly combining the French suits of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs with the esoteric suits of Wands, Swords, Coins, and Cups commonly used in divinatory Tarot decks today.
● Decks with indices
Arcana Tarot Playing Cards (2013) by Chris Ovdiyenko
Dead on Paper is the brand of Chris Ovdiyenko, is the creator behind Arcana Tarot Playing Cards. Created in 2013, this 84 card deck uses a more traditional playing card format, including poker-sized cards, but incorporates the pips for the traditional French suits as well as pips for their corresponding suits (Wands, Pentacles, Swords, Cups) on each card. It also has a complete set of Major Arcana (trump) cards.
Initially Chris' goal was to produce the Major Arcana as a separate expansion, but the ultimate result was a complete Tarot deck in a single package. Each suit has 14 cards, including a Page alongside the King, Queen, and Jack. There are also 22 Major Arcana cards that serve as trumps, two Jokers, and three gaff cards for magicians. The artwork features a hand-engraved style, and the deck was produced in both a Dark edition and a Light edition.
The Divine and Play Tarot Deck (2020) by Matt Green
This deck by Matt Green also brings Tarot to poker-sized cards, and instantly has the feel of a standard deck of cards, but with an additional trump suit, plus artwork and themes familiar from Tarot decks used for cartomancy. The artwork on the trump cards will be immediately familiar from the well-known Rider-Waite cartomancy deck. The trump suit is black bordered to help it stand out from the other cards.
The Knight is designated with a lower case "k", and has a slightly different shaded border to help distinguish it clearly from the other court cards. While the indices and pips use the French suited pips of a traditional deck of playing cards, the artwork on all the cards - including the number cards - depicts the Swords, Wands, Pentacles, and Cups that correspond to the Spades, Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds.
Refine and Play Tarot Deck (2021) by Matt Green
The deck was effectively a reworking of the previous one but with a very different look. While the basic concept was retained, the trump cards were made borderless, and a more monochrome colour scheme was used for the entire deck.
Unlike cartomancy Tarot decks, this is intended to be a deck that is playable, so it has a familiar and functional look about it. But it does still use artwork and suit names typical of cartomancy decks, such as Swords, Wands, Pentacles, and Cups.
Trio Play Tarot Deck (2023) by Matt Green
Another project from Matt Green, the Trio Play Tarot Deck is a very unique hybrid deck of 78 cards, because it combines a standard deck of playing cards with a Tarot deck, but also with some of the concepts from color-matching games like UNO and its ancestor Crazy Eights. Each suit has a different color and theme: Red = Fire (Wands/Clubs), Blue = Water (Cups/Hearts), Yellow = Air (Swords/Spades), and Green = Earth (Pentacles/Diamonds).
The trump cards (Major Arcana) and the Knight cards are all borderless, so they can be easily removed if desired. Besides the French-suited indices familiar from a regular deck, cards also have additional icons or actions drawn from UNO, such as Reverse, Skip, Draw 2, or Wild.
The result is a multi-functional deck that can be used for traditional games like Crazy Eights or Uno, French Tarot games, or even as a Tarot deck for cartomancy in light of the artwork used on the cards.
Rider Waite Playing Card Deck (2021) by US Games Systems
This 78 card deck was created as a multi-purpose deck suitable for traditional card games, tarot games, and tarot readings, so the artwork features the famous images of cartomancer Pamela Colman Smith's Rider-Waite Tarot. A nice touch is that it comes with a 56 page booklet, which has instructions for two games (Game of Tarot and Tarot Rummy), as well as an explanation of the divinatory meanings of the cards drawn from Arthur E. Waite's "The Key to the Tarot".
The suits are taken from Tarot decks used for cartomancy, i.e. Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (instead of Clubs, Hearts, Spades, and Diamonds). One disadvantage of this deck for card games is that the Knights (= Cavaliers) have been somewhat surprisingly been called Jokers on the indices, and this could prove confusing if used for Tarot games.
The Primero Tarot (2024) by Chrisann Zaubi
This 80 card deck is named after what was apparently the original Renaissance name for the modern game of poker: Primero. It aims to blend regular playing cards with a 78 tarot deck, but also includes two jokers as extra cards.
The court cards follow the familiar naming system of cartomancy decks, and beside the King and Queen there is a Knight (Kn) and a Page (P). The number cards have the full number of French-suited pips, but also have full artwork with a one-way design. The cards have gilded edges, and a small guide book is included.
● Decks without indices
Keymaster Tarot (2020) by Stockholm17
Stockholm17 will need little introduction for anyone familiar with modern custom playing cards. This is the brand name of Lorenzo Gaggiotti, who is a rock-star in the playing card industry today. He's won multiple awards for "Deck of the Year" and "Artist of the Year" from the largest playing card club in the world, 52 Plus Joker, and is considered to be one of the best and most popular designers of collectible and creative playing cards.
Since initially appearing around 2020, Stockholm17's Keymaster Tarot has gone through more than one version, and represents an expansion of the Cartomancer version of his award-winning Rising Spade Playing Cards project. Taking the artwork from that poker-style deck as a starting point, he brought his unique style to the world of Tarot, creating all-new artwork for the trump cards (Major Arcana), drawing on various aspects of modern Tarot traditions in the process. The court cards are designated as King, Queen, Knight, and Page, as is typical of cartomancy decks.
The usual suits of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs were merged with the Wands, Swords, Coins, and Cups of the Tarot de Marseille, by printing gold foil on top of the traditional French suits. Rather than being poker-sized, the cards of the Keymaster Tarot also use the physical dimensions of most modern Tarot decks.
Erde Tarock (1995) by Sieghard Dittner
The Erde Tarock (Tarot of the Earth) was produced in a very limited edition, so you will not easily get your hands on this one. Like many other Tarot decks, it draws on the Marseille tradition, but adopts a very fresh and creative approach to the artwork.
The court cards clearly state the card name, but the suits aren't as clearly distinguished, so it is not as ideal for card games as some of the other decks covered here.
Tarot of Loka (2014) by Ralph Horsley and Alessio Cavatore
This is a somewhat unorthodox entry, because while it does use the standard English indices of K, Q, C, and J, instead of standard French suits of Spades, Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds, it has four unique fantasy inspired pips. The fact that each suit has a separate colour does help distinguish the suits very clearly. The Tarot of Loka is set in a fantasy world, as is immediately evident from the artwork, which is spoken of highly by people who have the deck.
Another unique aspect about this Tarot deck is that it doubles as a family card game. So it has multiple uses, and can be used as a deck for playing standard Tarot games, but also for the Tarot of Loka game with rules created by Alessio Cavatore. The deck comes with rules for this simple partnership trick-taking game, which has received good reviews.
Recommendation
So is the card game of French Tarot for you? If you are a fan of trick-taking games played with a standard deck, you might be in the same boat as I am, and this could be something you'd really enjoy.
Even if you never play it, it is good to know about Tarot simply because of its historical significance. There is already more than enough information out there about Tarot readings and its associations with the occult. But how much do fans of playing cards and traditional card games know about the true origins and importance of the Tarot? At the very least, it is important to be aware of the facts, and to realize how today's esoteric interpretations have evolved far from Tarot's original roots as a complex card game.
I am realistic, so I recognize that most readers will not rush out to learn French Tarot. But I hope that understanding something of its history and development promote a deeper appreciation for where the Tarot deck actually came from, and a sense of its significance.
And if you happen to love the artwork in these decks and want to use one for a regular card game, you absolutely can. Just remove the four Knight/Cavalier cards and the 22 trump cards, and you will be left with a standard 52-card deck that works just fine for most traditional card games. Maybe you will even convince yourself to try a game of Tarot!
Where to get them:
Playing decks
● Keymaster Tarot Deck by Stockholm17
● Playing Marseilles Tarot by Ryan Edward
● Rider Waite Playing Card Deck by US Games Systems
● Genoese Tarot (Classic Edition) by Elettra Deganello
● Genoese Tarot (Deluxe Edition) by Elettra Deganello
● Tarocco Genovese by Elettra Deganello
Historic decks
● Tarot de Marseille (18th century reproduction) by Ignaz Krebs
● Universal Tarot of Marseille (18th century reproduction) by Claude Burdel
● CBD Tarot De Marseille (18th century reproduction) by Nicholas Conver
● 1JJ Swiss Tarot Deck (19th century reproduction)
Historic cartomancy decks
● Smith-Waite Tarot Deck (Centennial Edition)
● Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck
● The Ultimate Guide to the Rider Waite Tarot (book by Johannes Fiebig & Evelin Burger)
About the writer: EndersGame is a well-known and respected reviewer of board games and playing cards. He loves card games, card magic, cardistry, and card collecting, and has reviewed several hundred boardgames and hundreds of different decks of playing cards. You can see a complete list of his game reviews here, and his playing card reviews here. He is considered an authority on playing cards and has written extensively about their design, history, and function, and has many contacts within the playing card and board game industries. You can view his previous articles about playing cards here. In his spare time he also volunteers with local youth to teach them the art of cardistry and card magic.
