Jak and Poi: Alpha Deck

Jak and Poi is a two-player card game based on the hand game Rock, Paper, Scissors. Everybody knows that Rock beats Scissors which beats Paper which then beats Rock. But when we were kids, we all tried to go around this rule by inventing our own hand symbols like Lightning, Bomb or Tank. Jak and Poi builds on this “anything goes” concept and the result is an accessible one-card-per-turn game that has surprising depth and strategy. The objective of the game is to reduce your opponent’s 20 life points to zero. To do this, each player uses the 2 main card types in the game: Jaks and Pois. The main mechanic of the game revolves around how these two card types interact with each other. Since Jaks (representing Rock, Paper, Scissors) can counter against or synergize with Pois (representing your lighting, bomb, tank, etc.) correctly anticipating your opponent’s moves or leading your opponent to play in your favor is key to victory. While unique, the gameplay of Jak and Poi is only half the reason the game is so special. Leveraging on the fact that every one of us, at some point in our childhood, invented our own hand symbols to try and win at Rock, Paper, Scissors, we crowdsourced the creation of all the cards in the game from players and artists who wanted to let their imaginations run wild. The two decks in Jak and Poi’s first release are the result of the efforts of 40+ designers and 20+ artists. This collaboration between passionate creators is no doubt the heart and driving force of the game.