The Wild Unknown Tarot review

The deck that made modern tarot look the way it does, and the reason beginners often keep a Rider-Waite alongside it.

The verdict: An ink-drawn animal and nature deck whose visual language reshaped what tarot decks look like, sold as a keepsake box set with a guidebook. Buy it if the imagery moves you and you want a deck for intuitive reflection. Buy a Rider-Waite alongside it if you are learning tarot, because the Wild Unknown strips out the narrative scene detail that beginners use to read the minor arcana.

Most beautiful deck here

HarperOne The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck and Guidebook, Official Keepsake Box Set

~$25

Kim Krans's ink-drawn tarot deck with its guidebook, in a keepsake box set built to last through regular use.

Check price on Amazon

Specifications

Spec	Detail
Format	Tarot deck with guidebook, keepsake box set
Publisher	HarperOne
Structure	Standard 78-card tarot structure
Artwork	Ink drawing, animal and nature imagery
Build	Durable box set, per the publisher

Specifications above come from the publisher's listing. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.

What it does well

The art is the reason to own it. Krans's ink work is stark and unsentimental, and it makes people actually look at the card rather than skim it.
It keeps the standard 78-card structure, so everything you learn transfers to and from other decks.
Animal and nature imagery avoids the medieval European costume that makes traditional decks feel remote to some readers.
A keepsake box set is built for a deck that gets handled daily rather than stored.
For reflective use rather than divination, imagery that suggests a mood rather than a scene can be more productive.

Where it falls short

The minor arcana are largely abstract. Traditional Rider-Waite minors show a little scene you can read as a story, and beginners lean on that heavily. Remove it and you are relying on memorised meanings or on intuition alone.
The guidebook is compact. If you want depth on each card, a separate tarot reference is the usual next purchase, which is a cost worth counting.
Reading tarot is not a way to get information about the future, and no honest review of a deck should imply otherwise. Its use here is as a reflection prompt.
Anyone using cards to make consequential decisions about health, money or relationships is using the wrong tool, and a professional in the relevant field is the right one.
Card stock and finish preferences are personal, and a deck this popular has had multiple printings, so the feel of a specific copy varies.

What owners report

Reader reports are consistent that this is a deck people keep and use rather than collect, and consistent that the artwork is why. It comes up repeatedly as the deck that got someone interested in tarot at all.

The equally consistent theme is that beginners struggle with the minor arcana. A large share of published reports mention owning a Rider-Waite as well, which is the most practical piece of advice in the whole category and is why we lead with it.

Who it suits

Readers drawn to the imagery who want a deck for reflection.
Anyone who finds traditional tarot iconography off-putting.
People who already know tarot structure and want a different visual language.

Who should skip it

Complete beginners learning to read, who should start with Rider-Waite. Our Rider-Waite versus Wild Unknown comparison explains why.
Anyone wanting an in-depth guidebook included.
People looking for answers rather than questions.

Alternatives worth considering

Best for Learning

U.S. Games Systems The Rider Tarot Deck, the authentic Rider-Waite deck with instruction booklet

~$20

The deck almost every tarot book is written about, with illustrated minor arcana that show a readable scene on every card. If you are learning, this is the one that makes the others make sense.

Check price on Amazon

Same Artist, Different Job

HarperOne The Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck and Guidebook

~$19

Krans's archetype deck is built for naming patterns rather than for reading spreads, with a much fuller guidebook. If what you actually want is shadow work prompts rather than tarot, this is the better fit.

Check price on Amazon

Common questions

Is the Wild Unknown good for beginners?

It is beautiful and it is harder to learn from, because its minor arcana are abstract rather than scene-based. Beginners lean heavily on the little pictures in a Rider-Waite deck to read the numbered cards. Many people own both and learn on the traditional deck while reading with this one.

What is the difference between tarot and oracle cards?

Tarot has a fixed 78-card structure with a major and minor arcana and centuries of established symbolism, so decks are interchangeable and books apply across them. Oracle decks have no fixed structure and mean what their creator says they mean. Our tarot versus oracle cards guide covers what that means in practice.

Can tarot help with shadow work?

As a prompt, yes. A card gives you an image and a theme to write about, and it interrupts the story you would otherwise tell yourself. That is a reflective use, not a predictive one, and it works best written down rather than only thought about.

Does the box set include a guidebook?

Yes, the official keepsake box set includes the guidebook alongside the deck. It is compact rather than comprehensive, and readers who want more depth on individual cards typically buy a separate tarot reference to sit beside it.

Should I buy more than one deck?

Not at first. One deck used daily teaches you far more than three decks admired occasionally. If you do buy a second, make it a structurally different one, such as a traditional deck alongside an art-led one, rather than another deck doing the same job.

Keep reading

This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.