[leppr]

>It seems that the only way to build an app that replicates the full functionality a deck of cards is to build a 3D simulation or game. Model the cards in 3D and put them on a 3D table. As long as you have controls for reaching out and picking up the cards, and moving them in space, you can do anything you can do in real life.

Unless you also want to enable castle building, no, I think a 3D interface would only add unnecessary complexity and cognitive burden. A 2D UI on desktop with keys for moving, flipping, looking at cards, and stacking, splitting, shuffling decks seems feasible.

On the other hand, if you spend time surveying the state-of-the-art in 3D input and real-time 3D physics engine, it will be clear how far away a functional deck of card simulation is. We simply don't have the tech now, and won't for the next 10 years.

3D games work because their focus is extremely limited (racing, shooting games), and/or low resolution (minecraft). As soon as you try to emulate the real world, you get things like Surgeon Simulator[1], where the awkwardness of the medium becomes fun in and of itself, albeit extremely unproductive.

[1] https://store.steampowered.com/app/518920/Surgeon_Simulator_...

[chongli]

Tabletop Simulator [1] provides a pretty functional 3D interface for playing board and card games. It has easy commands for shuffling and dealing cards, to one or to multiple players, and it gives each player a hand which allows them to prevent others from peeking at their cards in an otherwise unrestricted 3D environment.

Early on in the history of TTS it was pretty clumsy but it's gotten much nicer since they added scripting facilities to let you automate game setup.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabletop_Simulator