Everybody Puts Info in the Corner (At Least Game Designers Do)

Statistically, most people hold a hand of cards fanned out like this:

This is why poker cards have the suit and value of each card printed in the top-left and bottom-right corner of each card. When the average player holds cards in their hand, they’re able to see the important information about each card without having to pull it out and look at the entire thing. Because the info is repeated in the opposite corner, this even works when the card is held upside-down.

When I designed the cards for Villages, I listed the card’s color and name in both corners. Not only did this serve as a quick way for players to know which cards they had in their hand, but it also doubled as an extra accessibility measure for colorblind players–although, if I were to redesign the cards today, I would take it one step further and use a unique symbol or flag for each color instead of writing out the word. Images are faster for the human brain to process, and they would also make the game more language-independent.

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Obviously, some games require more information on each card than others, so cramming everything into two corners isn’t always realistic. But if there are one or two pieces of information that are more important than everything else, consider putting that info in the top-left and bottom-right corners.

Your players will thank you for it.