After thinking through the concept, making test decks, and play testing with family, friends, and friends of friends, we felt confident other people were gonna love Nice Try, Wise Guy as much as we did.

For years, we’d been playing the game with a deck of plain, white cards with color-coded text. It was fun to play, but to take the game to the next level, to make it as fun to look at as it was to play, what we needed was some snazzy artwork. What we needed… was an artist. 

We knew just the artist for the job. Our friend and long-time creative collaborator, Terri Beth Mitchell of Grown, designed and illustrated the cards, creating a film-noir-meets-comic-book, gritty-but-vibrant visual language that was the black and neon green icing on our malevolent cake. Over the span of a year, Terri collaborated closely with David to bring his late-night visions to life. Back in art school, Terri never dreamed that one day she’d be exchanging texts about bombs, guns, dead bodies, and people getting “whacked” (with enough disclaimers to keep us off a watchlist).

Every color, font, stylistic choice and symbolic reference was considered. The detailed illustrations for Nice Try, Wise Guy (which Terri would like you to know are NOT AI generated) are full of Easter eggs and deftly bring David’s deliciously malicious world to life.

As artists ourselves, we’re proud to share not only how much fun Nice Try, Wise Guy is to play, but how damned good it looks. Like the dames in the game, this deck is sleek, stylish, and built to turn heads. So we invite you to check in to The Piedmont Hotel, grab a martini or two at Myrtle’s, and consider double-crossing some wise guys on your way to becoming the Big Cheese.