Memento Mori means “remember that you will die”. The expression comes from a medieval Latin practice of reflecting on death, and those who followed it often carried objects to remind them of it, frequently in the shape of a skull. This deck, linked to magician and content creator Chris Ramsay, brings that idea to playing cards.

• PublisherRiffle Shuffle
• PrinterUnited States Playing Card Company
• Finishcrushed stock

Design

The back shows two human skulls in isometric perspective in a low-poly style (3D modelling with few polygons, giving a faceted look), alluding to the early days of digital animation as the beginning of a “virtual” life. The faces are white and customised: spades and clubs in dark purple, hearts and diamonds in a lighter pink, so the suits are easy to tell apart. The court cards depart from the traditional ones with unsettling details, such as a King driving his sword through his own head. The deck also draws on an old symbolic reading of playing cards: four suits as the seasons, thirteen cards as lunar phases and 52 cards as the weeks of the year. It includes additional cards with a reflection by Ramsay on this philosophy.

Manufacturing

It is printed by the United States Playing Card Company on crushed stock (a treatment that makes it more flexible and smooth), with handling similar to a Bicycle deck.