In his "Gamut of Games" (1975), legendary designer Sid Sackson related the rules of G. Castellan's 1915 game "Mate." Mate is perfectly playable with a normal French deck of cards. This deck was specially made for playing Mate as it makes it easy to compare the ranks of suits and cards without a special reference table.
Deck redesign for G. Castellan's Mate (1915) as detailed... [click here for more]