Malta playing arts [game review]

Abstract

It would be easy to dismiss this nifty card game as a simple tourist souvenir, but a closer look reveals a somewhat deeper meaning than a mere deck of Maltese Playing Cards. Reviewing this set of cards is outside my immediate comfort zone. I spend so much time thinking about mechanics, group dynamics, table talk, design, and replayability of games, that when presented with something that cannot really be critiqued for any of those game dynamics, I stumble. Truth is, there is no game here. There is a tool for a game, the motives of which aren’t really related to games at all. The ‘game’ part of this product is used more as a vehicle to deliver an ideal, a message, and a story.