From Cards to Digital Kingdoms

Before Mario was jumping over Goombas… Nintendo was painting flowers on playing cards.

🎴 Founded way back in 1889 in Kyoto, Japan, the company’s first products weren’t

consoles, or even toys — they were Hanafuda cards, each one hand-painted, colorful,

and sold in tiny local shops. For over 70 years, Nintendo lived in that world — shuffling

cards instead of pixels. But when card sales slowed, Nintendo took some

wild swings — toys, instant rice, even running a taxi company. Most of it failed…

until the 1970s, when they made a bet on electronic gaming. That gamble changed

everything — it gave us Donkey Kong, the first appearance of Mario, and the start of