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What's the best way to Playtest unfinished cards?

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 20:47
Tenelen
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I am working on a game called Monster Wars right now. The game consists of a lot of cards, but I have a little problem. I want to be able to Playtest the game, once I the cards completely done (minus the graphics); but I don't want to have to pay a ton to print the cards, especially when I know that I am going to have to print them again if I need to correct them.

So I know this has probably been asked a few times before, but what is the best way to print custom playing cards? Is it to print them from home? Or to wait for Artscow to have a crazy sale again?

Any input would be highly appreciated :)

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 21:09
#1
questccg
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I go to Staples

What I do is have them printed at a local Staples. It maybe costs around $10.00 to have a deck printed (minus the cutting). And well then it takes time cutting up all the cards. You can do 9 cards per page (they don't need to be the EXACT size - just representative).

The other thing that I am THINKING about doing, is just to print OUTLINES of the cards. Then after printing I will use a pencil to write down stats (obviously no graphics). If the stats need tweaking all I need to do is erase and rewrite the new stats.

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 21:41
#2
questccg
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Other blank side

questccg wrote:
The other thing that I am THINKING about doing, is just to print OUTLINES of the cards.

Also what you can do is print on ONE SIDE and then use the 2nd side (blank) for another game... I printed out a couple of decks and plan to reuse them for another game. I don't care if they are printed on one side - yes you could memorize what is on the card back... But hey it's only play testing.

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 21:58
#3
Gideon Reynolds
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I've usually printed out my

I've usually printed out my own cards and pieces for playtesting.
if you do a lot of it though, I'd suggest investing in a professional paper cutter, as it saves a lot of time, and makes neater cuts.

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 22:13
#4
Tenelen
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$10 for how many cards? Like

$10 for how many cards? Like a standard 54 card deck?

I'm thinking the second idea you have sounds like the best idea for me, if I print just black and white it should be cheaper as well.

Also; is that printing on cardstock? Or something of that thickness?

Gideon Reynolds wrote:
I've usually printed out my own cards and pieces for playtesting.
if you do a lot of it though, I'd suggest investing in a professional paper cutter, as it saves a lot of time, and makes neater cuts.

I have access to one :)

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 22:18
#5
questccg
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Maybe only $5 per deck

Tenelen wrote:
$10 for how many cards? Like a standard 54 card deck?

I'm thinking the second idea you have sounds like the best idea for me, if I print just black and white it should be cheaper as well.

Also; is that printing on cardstock? Or something of that thickness?

Well, Staples charges an EXORBITANT service fee of $2.00 (Just to process the order). Then I use their ONLY card stock (which is card stock - just not the best quality). I think it is 0.20$ per page and 54 cards (divided by 9) is 6 pages, so 1.20$. I can't remember how much the printing fee is (for 6 pages). Probably another $2.00 (I had them done in full color - B&W is cheaper). And I had 2 decks printed - so maybe it's only $5.00 per deck.

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 22:20
#6
questccg
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Black & White is cheaper

If you print them in B&W, it's even cheaper. So maybe it only costs like $3.00-$4.00. Like I said, mine were in color...

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 22:28
#7
innuendo
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Use a program like

Use a program like Lackeyccg.

If the game is all cards that's best, but you can get by using virtual cards for roughly 95% of prototyping until you are ready to get into look and feel.

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 22:35
#8
Tenelen
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innuendo wrote:Use a program

innuendo wrote:
Use a program like Lackeyccg.

If the game is all cards that's best, but you can get by using virtual cards for roughly 95% of prototyping until you are ready to get into look and feel.

I love Lackeyccg. The problem is that the game includes a board AND cards.

I think what I'm going to do is buy a pack of Cardstock and then either print it out at home or check around town for a cheap black and white printer.

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Sat, 07/23/2011 - 23:39
#9
whoshim
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thegamecrafter

For 54 cards, not including shipping, it is 5.25 from thegamecrafter.com, just FYI. The cost is quite reasonable and the quality is pretty good.

Dallas

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Sun, 07/24/2011 - 10:16
#10
Kirioni
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Cards, card sleeves

I am play testing a card game currently.

I have mayday sleeves with a black back, extra dominion cards (I have the base game and intrigue) in the sleeves and print out paper and slide it in front on the dominion card in the sleeve. I can reprint and cut cards easily and switch them out quickly. I did cave about a year ago and get a sliding cutter to make card cutting go many times faster.

In future I recommend searching topics on this forum, as there is a great amount of knowledge already shared (and click the HOW -TO) to see more ideas in this vein.

http://www.bgdf.com/node/3430 as an example

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Sun, 07/24/2011 - 10:54
#11
Zzzzz
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Use Card Sleeves

Use Card Sleeves and print out on paper, cut with whatever cutting tool you have handy. The card sleeves are cheap enough, and it allows you an easy why to change cards but simply pulling out the paper, add a new card/modified version of the card and your "deck" is still ready to play!

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Mon, 07/25/2011 - 17:45
#12
heruca
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Tenelen wrote:I love

Tenelen wrote:
I love Lackeyccg. The problem is that the game includes a board AND cards.

You could always make your prototype 100% digital. See this thread for suggestions on how to do so.

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Mon, 07/25/2011 - 22:17
#13
questccg
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Staples...

Just to let you know, at Staples Cover Stock that can be used in your printer only costs $11.92 CND for 250 pages...

If you have a laser or inkjet printer, you should be able to print out outlines of your cards and write on the manually. I think this might be the cheapest route.

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Mon, 07/25/2011 - 23:06
#14
whoshim
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Lackey

In LackeyCCG, depending on the detail of the board, you could make the background image your board. The creator is working on making multiple decks available for use in game, so you could use one 'deck' for your chits or blocks or meeples, and the other for your cards, once he implements that (I saw it mentioned in a thread over there, and do not remember the date when it was talked about, so it may already be a feature).

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Mon, 07/25/2011 - 23:23
#15
questccg
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RTFM - Q: Do I have to???

whoshim wrote:
In LackeyCCG, depending on the detail of the board, you could make the background image your board.

The problem with using software is figuring out the software first. Next comes making sure your mechanics will work with the software. I've never tried LackeyCCG... but I prefer the old traditional way of printed cards (even if blank). Software is nice - but it's the complexity of a card game which is sometimes hard to mimic.

I'm pretty certain that in no time soon I will also be walking around with my "silver poker chip briefcase"... That's specific to my game. ;)

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Tue, 07/26/2011 - 00:43
#16
JHouse
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What I do is pretty much a

What I do is pretty much a mix of the above.

Card Creation:
I use word perfect (microsoft word will work as well), set margins to 0.5" and create a table with 60 columns and 84 rows and format them so both the columns and rows always 0.125". Each card will be 20x28. Then I join together the columns/rows and add borders and such until I get the card to look how I want. Word will allow for quick changes and copy and paste works wonders allowing you to make decks quickly as long as you have 1 copy of the card saved.

Printing:
I do all my printing myself with a basic inkjet printer and card stock 110lb paper picked up at Walmart (only $5.50 for 250 sheets here). Simply set your printer to print fast and it will further save on ink and keep your costs low. So printing a deck of 60 cards costs less then a dollar - obviously this can change by where you live.

Playing:
As mentioned above, sleeves are the way to go. They allow easy shuffling for the paper cards and will allow you to switch cards within a few minutes. Any sleeves will work but I prefer using different color Ultra pro sleeves to keep my decks or different types of cards straight.

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Tue, 07/26/2011 - 15:03
#17
MondaysHero
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Playtesting stuff

The best way to playtest a card game, is to have sleeves, and some other cards you're no longer using as backing.
You put in the other cards (say, magic, or some other game you no longer play) and then you can make your playtest cards on Photoshop, or even Word or Pages. Print them off on normal paper, leave room, maybe where the graphics are going to go, for making changes, and then slip them in the sleeves. This way, you're not playing with just paper cutouts in your hands, and other players can't see what you have in your hand because of a poor cut (the other cards will hide this).
Sure, the sleeves might be your biggest cost, but they are 100% reusable when you move onto other games. If you're having trouble parting with cards to use as the backing, go to the dollar store and buy some $1 packs of playing cards.
That's how we playtested at Fantasy Flight Games when I worked there.--Monday's Hero

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Tue, 07/26/2011 - 19:59
#18
Tenelen
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Wow!

You guys are awesome! I am going to go out and buy some Cardstock thicker paper tomorrow and start to work on making the PDFs so that I can print them with ease.

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