boxes of Design Pattern playing cards leaning against the Design Patterns book

We’ve invented the world’s first deck of Design Patterns Playing Cards for participants in the Design Patterns Workshop and for programmers throughout the world. Our deck consists of 100 genuine, durable, rounded-corner professional playing cards, housed in a colorful tuck-box that is shrink-wrapped for protection. There are 24 Design Patterns represented in the deck. Each card, with the exception of the Joker, has a letter in the middle:

  • C = Creational
  • S = Structural
  • B = Behavioral

Below, you can find a growing list of games you can play with these cards.

Games To Play

  • Patterns Poker This challenging game is a seriously fun way to learn the art of how to combine Design Patterns. Come see digital pictures of people playing Patterns Poker and learn the rules of play. Each time we play this game with a group, people laugh their heads off and learn a lot. We like that combination.
  • Name That Pattern This game is a fun way to review what you know about Design Patterns. We’ve invented numerous ways to play the game, ranging from easy to difficult to quite challenging. We describe a half-dozen variations of play.
  • Patterns Cocktail This is one goofy game that helps people learn individual patterns and pattern conbinations.