Nex
Flush
I've had this idea back last summer already.
Probably not going to be made a reality anytime soon if at all, so I decided to reveal this design to the public.
First some introductory rambling, then the mockup.
Motivation
I've been a fan of the "Metro" series by Russian book author Dmitriy Glukhovskiy since a couple of years. Actually I got in contact with the computer game adaption first before reading the books. The game's dystopian atmosphere and setting captured my imagination so much I was immediately hooked. I didn't only consume the author's trilogy of books, but also, since he opened up his made-up universe to everyone, various books of other authors taking place in the same setting as well.
A quick introduction in video form here, and following up some more detail in text form:
So after the humans' retreat to the metro stations after the apocalypse, new political systems have developed. There are a lot of independent metro stations; some small federations; a hansa; and even a communist as well as a fascist empire. Most independent stations are just made up of regular people.
There is one station complex that is de facto ruled by bandits: The Tretyakovskaya station (Третьяковская), also called Venice (Венеция) in the books and the game because the station is half flooded. Of course a bunch of normal people live there as well, but unlike the other stations who are trying to become self-sustaining by growing mushrooms and producing other goods, the Tretyakovskaya primarily deals in entertainment and pays the goods for its survival with the money (= military-grade rifle rounds) foreign people leave there. There is fishing to some extent, but that's it, and it's also fairly dangerous long-term because of the water radiation levels. They have a shooting range, a bar serving home-made vodka, and even a brothel.
What struck me when I wandered around the station in the game was this: I didn't see anyone gambling, be it card games or anything else. Obviously, Poker is highly popular with the Russians as well as other eastern european nations in real life; surely there would be enough players among the survivors of this apocalypse to have a game running somewhere.
That's when I got the idea to design a chip set that could fit right within that universe - salvaged from various places among the above ruins, provisionally painted over to get them an uniform look, used in a makeshift casino that could very well fit into "Venice".
The chips have a different inlay on each side; one side is Russian, the other English:
The Russian side reads Короли на пепелище ("Karoli na pepelishche"), which literally translates to "Kings on the Ashes". This was the closest translation I could find with my limited basic knowledge of the language, without resorting to asking a native speaker.
"Kings of the Cinder" obviously is an ironic jab at the new rulers of this new world: they may still be making a living by running a casino, but in the end they're still stuck in the same fucked up world like all the others. I got the idea for this term from the Watchmen movie.
Nickel = Dirt
Quarter = Mold
Single = Scrap metal
Fiver = Campfire
25 = Acid rain
Hundo = Radiation (representing the mushroom cloud originating from a nuclear blast)
I've also designed an experimental 500, dubbed "Hope". The edge spots somewhat resemble the Russian orthodox church's cross, and lavender/purple is traditionally associated with spirituality. In a postapocalyptic world like depicted in the Metro series, I'd say hope is the by far strongest factor that causes the survivors to keep going.
If you are a fan of dystopian literature, I can highly recommend the original trilogy of books: Metro 2033, 2034 and 2035. These have been translated into many languages already.
A couple of the universe's books written by other authors are very good reads as well, in particular the three books by Andrey Djakov.
Probably not going to be made a reality anytime soon if at all, so I decided to reveal this design to the public.
First some introductory rambling, then the mockup.
Motivation
I've been a fan of the "Metro" series by Russian book author Dmitriy Glukhovskiy since a couple of years. Actually I got in contact with the computer game adaption first before reading the books. The game's dystopian atmosphere and setting captured my imagination so much I was immediately hooked. I didn't only consume the author's trilogy of books, but also, since he opened up his made-up universe to everyone, various books of other authors taking place in the same setting as well.
A quick introduction in video form here, and following up some more detail in text form:
So after the humans' retreat to the metro stations after the apocalypse, new political systems have developed. There are a lot of independent metro stations; some small federations; a hansa; and even a communist as well as a fascist empire. Most independent stations are just made up of regular people.
There is one station complex that is de facto ruled by bandits: The Tretyakovskaya station (Третьяковская), also called Venice (Венеция) in the books and the game because the station is half flooded. Of course a bunch of normal people live there as well, but unlike the other stations who are trying to become self-sustaining by growing mushrooms and producing other goods, the Tretyakovskaya primarily deals in entertainment and pays the goods for its survival with the money (= military-grade rifle rounds) foreign people leave there. There is fishing to some extent, but that's it, and it's also fairly dangerous long-term because of the water radiation levels. They have a shooting range, a bar serving home-made vodka, and even a brothel.
What struck me when I wandered around the station in the game was this: I didn't see anyone gambling, be it card games or anything else. Obviously, Poker is highly popular with the Russians as well as other eastern european nations in real life; surely there would be enough players among the survivors of this apocalypse to have a game running somewhere.
That's when I got the idea to design a chip set that could fit right within that universe - salvaged from various places among the above ruins, provisionally painted over to get them an uniform look, used in a makeshift casino that could very well fit into "Venice".
The chips have a different inlay on each side; one side is Russian, the other English:
The Russian side reads Короли на пепелище ("Karoli na pepelishche"), which literally translates to "Kings on the Ashes". This was the closest translation I could find with my limited basic knowledge of the language, without resorting to asking a native speaker.
"Kings of the Cinder" obviously is an ironic jab at the new rulers of this new world: they may still be making a living by running a casino, but in the end they're still stuck in the same fucked up world like all the others. I got the idea for this term from the Watchmen movie.
Nickel = Dirt
Quarter = Mold
Single = Scrap metal
Fiver = Campfire
25 = Acid rain
Hundo = Radiation (representing the mushroom cloud originating from a nuclear blast)
I've also designed an experimental 500, dubbed "Hope". The edge spots somewhat resemble the Russian orthodox church's cross, and lavender/purple is traditionally associated with spirituality. In a postapocalyptic world like depicted in the Metro series, I'd say hope is the by far strongest factor that causes the survivors to keep going.
If you are a fan of dystopian literature, I can highly recommend the original trilogy of books: Metro 2033, 2034 and 2035. These have been translated into many languages already.
A couple of the universe's books written by other authors are very good reads as well, in particular the three books by Andrey Djakov.
