Review: Sidewayz Tarot

Sidewayz Tarot by Roxi Sim

Reviewed by Joanne Sprott

Publisher: Gamecrafter 
RRP: £14.55 to £50.53 (7 options with different elements and sizes)
ISBN: n/a

As with all creations Roxi Sim, great imagination, amazing colors and shapes, and a very playful vibe prevails. Roxi already has a full Tarot (Pearls of Wisdom) and an oracle deck (Joy and Sorrow) under her belt. This time, she’s applied her Roxi worldview to a Majors-only deck in a pocket style you can pop unto your bag or even . . . pocket!

Please note that my version is the Mint Tin Ultimate at £20.21. There are seven options and three deck types (small for the mint tin, jumbo, and poker sized decks in boxes). The most expensive option includes all three deck types, instruction booklets, and their containers.

The Deck

Comes in a lovely tin, this one does. Card stock is flexible but firm enough for shuffling, nice, smooth, linen finish. Gamecrafter can be a bit chintzy on card stock quality in my experience, but Roxi has invested in some extra quality elements for this deck. It’s a discernible difference.

Remember, Majors only. But what an innovative point of view! Each card is, of course, oriented sideways (horizontally), and, like a first-person shooter video game, the imagery becomes a fantastical extension of you. So, there are no faces in the deck. The imagery is designed to put you in the card and show you looking out into this fantastic world of symbols and embodying the character in the card. It’s quite personal and drew me further into Roxi’s imaginary world for each archetypal image.

I think Roxi secretly lives in another galaxy where all those colors are real and rainbow stars fill the daytime sky. I find the first-person viewpoint fascinating – I am inside this universe acting out the messages of the cards.

I know some of you will be tempted to dismiss this deck for being only the 22 Majors cards; I, too, usually favor a full Tarot deck. The unique perspective of the images, though, makes me want to use it for extra draws (one could add it to Roxi’s Pearls of Wisdom, for example). I plan to use it as a single-draw oracle card resource to give me a personal focus for the day.

The Guidebooks

Roxi is providing so much symbolic and interpretive info for this little deck; it’s amazing! At first I thought I’d gotten two regular deck guidebooks by accident, but her intention was to provide one that covers the cards themselves and their interpretations, and one for spreads, layouts, runes and other symbolism. All in full color, of course.

Symbols and Runes Cards

And Roxi doesn’t stop there. Oh, no. For the Mint Tin version at least, and likely for the others, she also provides quick symbol and rune cards (to fit into the tin and take with you) so you’ll have all the knowledge at your fingertips. You can also use this wisdom, either from the books or these cards with your own set of runes or in other decks to add to your interpretations.

Overall, highly recommended, both for art and written guidance. A great addition to anyone’s Tarot collection.