I recently purchased a Flemish deck from Guinevere’s Games. I will state for transparency sake that the owner of Guinevere’s Games is a friend of mine, however I would not be writing this review if I did not believe every word of it 100%.

I own a couple reproduction decks, and this is by far the best deck I have every purchased. Now part of that is bias, because I have always had a fondness for the Flemish Hunting Deck, it’s oval shape and unique pips have interested me for quite some time. I even worked on creating my own hand painted reproduction, but never got very far with it. The truth is though, this deck is actually designed for every day use, it’s meant not just to admire (and it is worthy of admiration) but to be played with. To me that is the hallmark of a great reproduction game, after all why purchase a game that you don’t intend to play with. Now I know collectors editions are specifically designed to be admired an not played with, but to me playing with the games is what is really exciting.

The cards themselves are printed on 300 gram cardstock with a glossy finish for a nice smooth slide so dealing the cards is easy. The cards shape is one of the most attractive aspect of the deck, these cards are oval just like the originals, and they are hand cut which lend to the artistic nature of the cards, they don’t feel like they are mass produced. The oval shape makes it a little odd to hold in your hand, but despite the large size they fan out nicely in your hand so actually playing with them is nice.

The suits are unique and hunter themed (thus this deck being called the Flemish Hunter Deck). There is the horns, the collars, the noose, and the tether.

The Court cards are all individually unique and each suit contains a king, a queen, and a knave. One of the many things that makes this deck unique is most extant decks from the area and period have Uber and Unter’s instead of Knaves. If you would like to take a look at pictures of the original deck click here.

I would say that the Flemish deck from Guinevere’s games is well worth the $45 price tag, it certainly holds a special place in my collection.