Ukemi - The Worlds First Parkour / Freerunning Card Game

Custom card game created for and by the parkour community. The game was created and developed by three practitioners, each with over a decade of experience, to bring you the best and most authentic experience possible. In the main play style of the game, the goal is to get to a set number of points. You achieve points by drawing a combination of cards and successfully replicating the line or movement produced. The more cards you pick the more points you get.

• Three official game types.
• Challenge your friends.
• Get warmed up.
• Explore new spots.
• Create your own choreography.
• Invent your own way to play the game.

Each player get the choice of three types of cards;

Movement (40 cards) - Choose between techniques taken from parkour, tricking and gymnastics.

Condition (30 cards) - Add variance with rotations, combo's, targeted objects and movement qualities.

Wild Card (30 cards) - Put your route on hard mode with a Wild Card. This is not for the faint of heart and you can end up in a tree, wearing your friends' shoes or blindfolded.

Blanks (15) - Each deck comes with 5 blank cards for each card type. This puts you in charge and lets you add your own cards to the game.

The possibilities for different combinations is massive. In fact, we have calculated that each deck allows for over 295 billion possible combinations.

Share your passion with practitioners old and new to celebrate the art of movement.

In order to create an easy to understand and relevant experience, we wanted to show the actions from each card with both text and image. The key reason for this was that certain actions, foundational parkour techniques, in particular, use more than one name. For example, arm jump, cat leap, and saut de bras are all the same thing. By having both it will be easier for the player to identify the intention.

The front of card images also gave us the opportunity to promote playing the game in a variety of locations as well as showing a diverse group of people playing the game. One of our fundraising goals is to increase the diversity of the images even further by working with different parkour athletes and photographers. This diversity would come from being able to use more locations and traceurs which would further promote that parkour is for anyone anywhere.

The inspiration for the general aesthetic came from a mix of calligraphy, fractal patterns and dance notation (drawing of live movement). Using different elements that compliment each other allowed us to create a card game that has distinct sections fit in with an overall aesthetic. This is shown in not only in the different card categories but also in the different card type sub-divisions within the game. To achieve this we have used a mixture of digital graphics, photographs, and drawings. The drawings, used for the multiplier and combo cards, were provided by artist Sally McKay from her collection. Our next step is to bring in Sally to generate images unique to the card game as well as photographers to work with parkour athletes.

Physically the product has had a different range of considerations. The game will largely be played outside and as a result, they need to be robust enough to withstand the elements. The first level of protection that comes with the game is a custom tuck box and the second is high-quality gloss finish and top of the range card to ensure they last as long as possible.
 

Ukemi is at the prototype stage. We want to bring the community in more by accessing photographers, artists, and designers with a passion for Parkour and movement. To share Ukemi with as many people as possible we need -

• Initial production costs
• Top athletes and coaches for the images
• Parkour photographers
• A dance illustrator
• Marketing costs

Want to get involved? Here's what's up for grabs:

Boost (£5) - We play a line of Ukemi for you.

Frontier (£10) - First edition pack of cards (£5 off RRP)

Supporter (£25) - First edition pack of cards, poster and sticker pack

Contributor (£100) - First edition pack of cards and your chance to be on a card

Stockist (£200) - Stock the game at your store/gym. Box of Ukemi cards (25) RRP £15 each!

Super Backer (£400) - Box of Ukemi cards (25), poster, sticker pack, be on a card, early access to designs/Game. As a super backer you get an insight into the project.

Angel Investor (£1250) - First edition pack of cards, be on a card, say in final designs, a private day-long seminar for you and up to 8 people anywhere in Europe

Your contribution will allow us to elevate our project from prototype to production. All money raised will be used to add value to the game and, where possible, spent on artists who have a Parkour or movement practice. This ensures a level of quality that can only come from getting close to the source.

• Support your community.
• Get involved in a world first.
• Innovations - the first ever Parkour card game.

To make the Ukemi card game happen we need to reach £3000. This would produce a base version of the game with minor improvements on the prototype. We don’t want to stop there though and the more we raise the better we can make it. Our fundraising goals to improve the game are -

• Move beyond preliminary designs - work with photographers, illustrators, and athletes to give the game a stronger style.
• Improve the physical product - we want to use the best materials possible for the cards, tuck box and finish. The more we raise the better quality of card we can produce.
• Spread the word - See the game at international events and help us bring Ukemi to schools, parks, and gyms around the world.

Creating a product for an emerging community comes with added risk and challenges. These include having a large enough market, covering expenses, making sure we represent the active Parkour/Freerunning scene and creating a game that keeps up with the constantly progressing community. We aim to overcome this by -

• Working on a product for traceurs created by traceurs.
• Recruiting athletes and coaches to champion our game.
• Over 30 years of training, coaching and performing experience in the team.
• Making the game scaleable from beginner, to advance to borderline impossible.

No cash? No problem there is plenty of ways you can help -

• Share our campaign. Parkour largely grew out of the internet, let's make Ukemi do the same!
• Send us suggestions on stockists and athletes you want to see try the game.
• Have a go! Send us a message and we will draw cards for you from the prototype for you to try a line.

Many thanks for your contribution,

David, Dan, and Sam.