Seems you can’t go more than a few days without stumbling on another deck of cards based off Dia de los Muertos, but even in this heavily contested niche of the playing card Kickstarter scene, The Ode La Catrina set stands out. There’s two decks in the set, La Catrina Vivas and La Catrina Muertas (“alive,” and, “dead,” respectively), each representing the dichotomy of, you know, life and death.   

La Catrina Vivas is clearly the more cheerful of the two decks with its cheerful blue case and gold foil, gold-ink printed card backs; jaunty mustachioed skull jokers; and face cards depicting young ladies in traditional Dia De Los Muertos makeup.

La Catrina Muertas has a darker, more grimy aesthetic with its black and copper case. The young ladies are now actual skeletons, albeit in the same poses. The aces are now ominous roses, and the grinning skulls jokers have been replaced with a depiction of El Catrin tipping his top hat. The card backs depict a threaded weave of roses on a black background.

The number cards are similar across the two decks, with a well-worn, western saloon kind of look.    

The Ode To La Catrina decks were fully funded within 12 hours of the Kickstarter going live, so all that remains is to get yourself a pair before they sell out completely.