Cardjenga

Overview

Standard-sized (75x25x15 mm) building blocks, with 52 card symbols and 2 blanks.

Games

Do whatever!  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.  Here are some ideas to get you started.

Crazy Eights (2-8 players)

Players take turns pulling blocks and stacking them on top of the tower and the person to knock it down loses, as in Jenga.  However, you can only draw a block whose suit or number matches the last block played.

There are also optional "special cards".  If you play a:

• 2: The next player must pull and place two blocks (of any suit or number), then ends their turn.  The player after that must follow the suit or number of the two, not the penalty blocks.

• 8: Can be played at any time, regardless of its suit.  Allows you to declare a suit that the next person must play.

• Jack: The next player skips their turn

• King: Reverse the direction of play, from clockwise to counterclockwise, or vice versa.

Poker (3-5 players)

• Remove the two blank tiles, then give each player five random blocks, which they keep secret.  Also set five blocks aside (hidden) so you can't figure out what everyone has.  Build a tower with the remaining blocks.

• Play proceeds clockwise.  Players draw a block from the tower, then place a block from their hand (including the newly-drawn one) on top.

• After four rounds with the tower still standing, the player with the strongest poker hand wins the round.

• If the tower falls, the player that knocked it over is disqualified, and the remaining player with the strongest poker hand wins the round.  

Pairs (1-8 players)

• Players take turns drawing and keeping blocks (do not place them on top of the tower).

• When the tower falls, count how many pairs you have.  Score two points per pair if you didn't knock over the tower, or one point per pair if you did (the last block does not count).  Single blocks have no effect on scoring.

Printing

Print 2 blank blocks and the 52 card blocks to make a standard 54-block tower.  The card blocks are available in a 213x75x25mm assembly by suit, or individually.

This is not a difficult model to print.  The recommended settings will make high-quality blocks that are easy to play with, while using various alternate settings will make it more challenging. 

Tested with an Ender 3, using PLA, 0.6 mm nozzle, 0.28 mm layers, 2 walls, 3 top/bottom layers, 10% cubic infill, and no supports.  Printing all 54 blocks used 747 g of filament.

Recommended settings

• Material: PLA, PETG, ABS, or any other rigid material

• Nozzle: 0.6 mm or smaller

• Layer height: 0.28 mm or smaller

• Walls: 2 or more

• Top/bottom surface: 3 or more layers

• Infill: 10% or more.  Cubic, gyroid, lines, or any other pattern that is symmetrical top to bottom, left/right, and front/back.  Lightning infill is not recommended.

• Support: No brim.  Overhang support is optional: The engraved letters are 2 mm deep and the corner chamfers are 1 mm at 45 degrees, which should not cause problems.

Alternate settings

• Material: TPU for higher grip and worse load-bearing capacity

• Top/bottom surface: >=40 bottom layers, normal top layers to create unbalanced parts 

• Scale: 95% - 105% (different for different suits or individual blocks)

• Infill: 0-100% for varying weight

• Other: Fuzzy skin, change orientation to vertical (layer lines will be across the length of the block instead of along it)

Example: Print all spades with the recommended settings, hearts with TPU, clubs with 100% infill, diamonds with fuzzy skin, and the blanks at 102% scale for a more challenging game.