The ACA Liège Game
A curious art-game from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Liège, issued in 2000.
An institutional game, "The ACA Liège Game" from the year 2000, published by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Liège to celebrate the new millennium, as a 52-card deck plus 3 jokers that brings together work by professors and students, with each card signed by a different artist.
To celebrate the new millennium, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Liège (ACA is an abbreviation) published a 52-card deck (+ 3 jokers), see the box , likely the result of a collaboration between professors and students. Each card is signed by a different artist, contributing to the deliberate eclecticism of the illustrations.
The game aims to be a marker of its time but is presented with a light touch. It is, in a way, a miniature gallery. Some transformation cards are included, others incorporate their value into the design, and still others appear without any particular connection. It seems to have been under the direction of Francis De Bruyn, a professor at the school, who wrote the introductory booklet (attached).
The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Liège was founded in 1775 by Prince-Bishop François-Charles de Velbrück, a man of the Enlightenment and an enlightened prince.
Above: French booklet page for The ACA Liège Game.
French booklet page accompanying The ACA Liège Game. The leaflet presents the deck as a small portable museum: a collector's object that can also still be used for traditional card games. It invites readers to play with art rather than keep it at a distance.
Above: English booklet page for The ACA Liège Game.
English booklet page accompanying The ACA Liège Game. The leaflet says the game can be kept as a precious object or used in traditional card games, and describes it as a small portable museum: something to collect, but also something to play with.
By Vincent Bérail
France • Member since June 22, 2026
Collectionneur français de cartes à jouer de 52 cartes. Principalement des jeux non standarts des années 1950 à 2000
Activity for The ACA Liège Game
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