Overtrick v0.4: Visual Update and Opponent AI

🚀 Two Big Updates

1. Complete Visual Update. I retired the pixel art for an Art Deco-inspired look.
2. Better Opponent AI. A minor bugfix resulted in far more challenging AI opponents.

The visual update was sparked by The Great Gatsby movie ...which ironically I have not seen. But its promo posters sent me down the Art Deco rabbit hole. If you’d like the backstory, read on. Otherwise, grab the demo and let me know what you think.

Cheers in advance!

🎨 Art Deco Theme

I loved ivoryred’s pixel poker cards, but readability was becoming an issue—especially with angled cards. I also wanted Overtrick to stand out with a stronger visual identity.

I grew up in New York City, surrounded by the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Plaza, so the geometric drama of Art Deco has always stuck with me. Since my main tool is Inkscape (an open-source vector program), sharp Deco lines felt like a natural fit.

✍️ Fonts

The search for Deco fonts led me straight to the Gatsby promos. The title font, Atlas, isn’t free, but Limelight gets pretty close. Just swapping in that font gave the cards a bold, distinctive character. For everything else, I went with Nunito for clarity.

🃏 Playing Cards and Readability

Bridge platforms like BBO and IntoBridge were huge inspirations here. I:

• Enlarged the card rank fonts.
• Gave each suit its own unique color (not quite the standard four-color set—more Deco).
• Drew new suit icons in Inkscape, including some custom Ace symbols.

The result: easier to read, more visually consistent, and a lot more personality.

🌟 Special Cards

Previously, the special cards looked nice, but the images didn’t relate to what the cards actually did. I finally sat down, powered through all 12 designs in one session, and gave them:

• A small top-left icon for quick expert recognition.
• A large center icon to help new players instantly grasp the effect.

There’s still some pixelation to clean up, but usability is miles better. Now it’s also clear which special cards are playable at any given time.

🧠 Better Opponent AI

This one was a happy accident. I found a bug where East was treating West (its partner) as an opponent, which made East throw away high cards constantly. Fixing that turned Overtrick from “pretty chill” to “oh wow this is tough.”

The game is now a lot more challenging—and that difficulty opens the door for special cards to really shine.

💡 Ideas? Feedback?

I’d love to hear what you think