How to Print a Card Game Prototype

If you’re just starting out as a new game designer, you might be wondering how to print and test your cards. The good news is that you don’t need to go to a print shop to get your cards made. These places don’t carry the thickness of cardstock you’d normally associate with card games, and it’s really hard to get a double-sided print to line up exactly. The results are usually disappointing and too expensive.

After designing a few finished games and dozens of prototypes myself, here’s what I do instead.

Printable Card Template

Years ago, I created a printable card template that I still use all the time. It’s just a table with 9 cells, each set to 2.5″ x 3.5″ (standard poker card size), on a regular 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. To add more cards, I just add more rows to the table. This document is perfect for creating super quick prototypes and printing them out on my laser printer at home.

(The file linked above is an ODT document. It’s like a Word document, but for open-source software like LibreOffice, which I also recommend. It’s free!)

Typing your cards has a number of advantages over hand-writing on index cards. Not only does it look nicer and more consistent, but it also helps avoid a lot of hand strain if you’re creating more than a dozen or so. Personally, I would only use the hand-written method if I didn’t have a computer and printer at home. Otherwise, copy and paste is your friend.

Once you’ve got a set of cards, print them out and start cutting. Depending on your design, you may be able to start playtesting right away. But I usually take a few extra steps to give my cards a heavier feel and make them easier to shuffle.

The Extra Mile

To do this, you’ll need some playing cards and card sleeves. I recommend Bicycle Playing Cards and Mayday Premium Card Sleeves. Bicycle cards are inexpensive and high-quality, and you can get them in a 12-pack if you really want to stock up, while Mayday’s premium sleeves hold up so much better than the standard ones and just feel more professional.

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The next step is easy: take one of your cards, put a poker card behind it, and slip both of them into a card sleeve. Now you’ve got a nice card that you can shuffle without ruining, and it feels good in your hands. Plus, whenever you’re done with this prototype, you can re-use the cards and sleeves for your next project. You’ll never have to visit the print shop again!

You can create custom Villages cards using this same prototyping method, by the way! After you save the trimmed card file to your computer, drag and drop it into the template, and it will automatically adjust to the right size for printing.

Have questions or comments? Leave one below! Thanks for reading, and happy crafting!