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Print and play games

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Wed, 09/27/2017 - 08:29
joebergmann
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I have been looking at a few print and play games recently and I wonder:

Is it worth the time to make a black and white version of your print and play game? Simply so people don't have to use a lot of ink when printing?

I have noticed that I hesitate to print out a game if it's a lot of color pages.

At the same time, things usually look better in color, so you would have to make a concerted effort to create a black and white version I think...

Thoughts? Is it worth the extra time and effort? Maybe just start out black and white?

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Wed, 09/27/2017 - 09:03
#1
X3M
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People have the option to

People have the option to choose coloured or black/white for printing.

All you have to do is to check yourself, how does the game look like when printed in black/white. If for example purple and dark green are close together. This would be a big dark blob. Then you make an alternative.

There are programs that can help making a grey scale of your game parts. Many paint programs have this option. If you have something in colour. Even I could take a look for you if you want.

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Wed, 09/27/2017 - 11:45
#2
joebergmann
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That's a good point

Hey X3M! Thank's for the comment! I must confess, I hadn't thought about people just printing in black and white for the very reason you brought up, printing a color image in black and white or grayscale just doesn't work sometimes (most of the time?)

I specifically made two versions of my print and play games, one with colors, one with shapes. But these are very simple games, not a lot of artwork. I'm not sure what I would do with more artwork intensive games.

I guess I was just wondering if it's a deterrent to people trying out print and play games if they ARE in color and might use a lot of ink.

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Wed, 09/27/2017 - 12:25
#3
FrankM
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Design elements or artwork?

Are you concerned that the artwork won't look quite right, or that B&W printing would actually make the game components confusing?

If it's artwork, just let users choose to print it in B&W (they're using their workplace printer anyway, right?).

If it's unrecognizable game components, this is something that ought to get fixed regardless of whether it's a print-and-play or intended for production. Design best practice is never to rely solely on color to convey essential information (even a traffic light always has the red light on the top or left, well almost always). This is especially true for colors that get confused due to grayscaling or color-blindness.

Once you're to the point that color is no longer essential to differentiating components, you can move on to making them look better in B&W by going to a site I ran across called Color Brewer and selecting "photocopy safe". This would guide you in making the different parts of an image distinct when printed (for example, making a warrior's shield stand out from his armor) when the shape of the image is what conveys the essential information (a warrior's silhouette is different from a wizard's or cleric's or thief's).

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Wed, 09/27/2017 - 12:29
#4
X3M
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joebergmann wrote: I

joebergmann wrote:

I specifically made two versions of my print and play games, one with colors, one with shapes. But these are very simple games, not a lot of artwork. I'm not sure what I would do with more artwork intensive games.

I guess I was just wondering if it's a deterrent to people trying out print and play games if they ARE in color and might use a lot of ink.


It is smart what you did with the simple artwork. To have clear shapes. I use these as well for a first print.

It is certainly a problem for a lot of people to print something that is just going to be a test. Bit it is also a problem if you have large black area's. Try to keep these to a minimum as well.
That even goes for grey scales.

Try to use lines as much as possible.

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Thu, 09/28/2017 - 16:04
#5
larienna
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Most people will print B&W

Most people will print B&W and one thing I have realised is that cartoonish style artwork seems to be more easily visible when printed in Black and white.

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