Beautifully illustrated card game featuring characters from Welsh mythology goes on sale

Two Welshmen who are passionate about Wales' heritage and history have launched a set of Top Trumps style playing cards based on characters from Welsh mythology.

The makers of the beautifully illustrated card game, David Daniel and Eifion Rogers, aimed to create an engaging and educational experience for children and young adults while also appealing to anyone with an interest in the rich and fascinating history and folklore of Wales.

Mythology

Each pack contain 32 high quality cards featuring characters from Welsh mythology and legend including Blodeuwedd, Branwen, Mari Lwyd, Gelert, Gwenllian The Warrior Princess, Lady of the Lake, Merlin the Wizard, The Morgens, The ghost dogs of Annwn, The Physicians of Myddfai, Rhiannon, St Dwynwyn and Twm Sion Cati.

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Eifion Rogers who graduated from University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) in 2007 has had a varied career since completing his studies including coaching football teams and publishing a book on the history of football in Brynamman.

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“Fascination"

With Eifion’s family hailing from the small village of Myddfai in Carmarthenshire, known for folklore tales of the Physicians of Myddfai and Lady of the Lake, Eifion has always had a fascination in this area.

It was a trip to Ireland back in 2018 that sparked the idea of the game, where he learnt about Irish mythology and a book containing old folklore stories that had been created by school children from information they had collected from their oldest living relatives.

As a graduate of UWTSD, Eifion was been able to seek advice from the University’s Enterprise team to help with the start-up of his business.

Dylan Willams-Evans, UWTSD’s Enterprise & Future Funds Executive Officer said: “It is fantastic to see that having attended our Business Start-up Course, received 1-2-1 support and accessed our Entrepreneurship Startup Grant, that Eifion has gone ahead and used all that he has learnt to successfully start his business in an area that he is extremely passionate about and where he has spotted a gap in the market.”

Eifion praises the University on helping him get to where he is today saying: “UWTSD had a massive impact on my development and everything I have achieved in life so far. I forged relationships with staff that I will treasure for a lifetime. I will never forget the way that university shaped my life.”

Eifion imagined creating his own book that shared the myths and heritage of his own land, but after meeting his business partner, David Daniel, they decided to go down the route of a fun and educational card game.

Eifion hopes it will inspire people all over the world to take an interest in these iconic figures that have shaped Welsh culture.

The game has already been shipped to 12 countries and 15 states in the USA and has featured on regional, national and international newspapers and radio stations, as well as S4C.

The project started as  a campaign on fundraising platform Indiegogo with a target of £2000 for the printing and development costs of the game.

They offered a number of attractive perks available for backers, including limited edition prints, thank you cards, and a full deck of the finished cards and presentation box.

Eifion said: "We partnered with a talented artist and designer who will create beautiful character images, as well as historians and researchers to provide the vital story elements for each card.

"We also produce a Welsh language version of the cards which are great for language learners too - unfortunately these sold out very soon after production as they were so in demand which is a wonderful thing in one sense, but not so good for people waiting - but we’ll have them back in stock soon."

Educational

As well as the obvious fun aspect of the cards, Eifion believes the game has great educational value.

"These cards are not only a fun way to learn about the fascinating characters of Welsh mythology, but they are also an immersive and engaging tool for learners to develop reading skills in English or Welsh and great for keeping kids quiet in the backs of cars or on long trips

Speaking about the card game’s launch, David said:"We are absolutely thrilled with the quality and so happy to see the cards available for sale after a successful fundraising campaign.

"Even more excitingly, we’ve seen so many people of all ages absolutely enchanted by the game. They were particularly captivated by Merlin, whose magic powers made him a clear fan favourite.

You can purchase the English language version of Eifion and David’s Welsh Legends card game here.