OH Cards - The OH Cards

The OH Cards

The genre originated with the publication in 1982 of a set of two interrelated cards decks called The OH Cards, invented by Canadian artist Ely Raman, and first published in 1982, that consist of

"…88 picture cards, supplemented by 88 word cards. To play, a picture card is placed inside a larger word card. The word, such as ‘game’, ‘love’, ‘grief’ or ‘letting go’ forms the framework for interpreting the picture. A total of 7744 combinations are possible."

In the first version, the words were in English, but within a few years they were translated into German, Dutch, and French. At this time (2006) The OH Cards, published in Germany by OH Verlag, are available in 18 languages including Chinese, Croatian, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Spanish, and Turkish, and are being used all over the world.

Most of these decks can be used for play, especially play that involves imagination and expression. The cards are not arranged in suits, nor are they numbered (except for a tiny identification number beside the copyright line), so they do not lend themselves to games that are hierarchical or competitive, with winners and losers and scores. This aspect is underlined by the OH Etiquette (see below); a set of "rules" that deal more with behaviour, attitude, and communication skills than with legalistic boundaries.