Helix – Playing the Hand You’re Dealt

If your DNA determines who you are, and defines both your strengths and limitations, then you could say we all live our lives with a pre-dealt deck of cards.

That’s the premise of a new card game on display as part of the Talk to Me exhibit which opened at MOMA this week.

Players send in swabs of saliva; the designers send it out to be analyzed and then generate a customized 50-card deck from each player’s specific DNA…The deck allows players to become shadow versions of themselves, with all their genetic cards on the table, and in the game, as in reality, life depends on how the cards are played, not on which cards are dealt. The effects of any trait depend on the player; the challenge of the game is how to contend with or take advantage of it. A player with a great deck can still lose if the game is played without strategy, and a skilled player with a weaker deck can win.

Fascinating idea. A life lesson in a card game.

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We visited the Talk to Me exhibit Saturday with friends, including Helix’s graphic designer Mike Essl. Congrats Mike on being included in this amazing exhibition!

If you haven’t yet been to Talk to Me, You MUST go.

2 Responses to Helix – Playing the Hand You’re Dealt

  1. […] Helix – Playing the Hand You're Dealt | The Blog That Ate Manhattan Players send in swabs of saliva; the designers send it out to be analyzed and then generate a customized 50-card deck from each player's specific DNA…The deck allows players to become shadow versions of themselves, […]

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