Board game prototype supplies: what you actually need
For a first prototype you need card stock or index cards, card sleeves and an old deck to stiffen them, a few colors of wooden cubes or meeples, a handful of six-sided dice, a pen, scissors or a paper cutter, and zip bags. Put your card text in a spreadsheet from the start so you can reprint the whole deck after each round of changes.
The best prototype is the one you can change in five minutes. Make it cheap and ugly until the game is nearly done. Here’s what to have on hand.
The basic kit
| Item | Why | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Index cards or card stock | Cards you can write on | Cut card stock to poker size, 63.5 × 88.9 mm |
| Card sleeves | Let paper cards shuffle and stay flat | Put a paper slip in front of an old card in each sleeve |
| An old deck of cards | Stiffening for sleeved paper cards | Any poker-size deck works |
| Six-sided dice and other dice | Randomness, counters and trackers | A set of polyhedral dice covers almost any roll |
| Wooden cubes, discs or meeples | Player pieces, resources, markers | Borrow from games you own to start |
| Poker chips or coins | Money and points | Cheaper than printing currency |
| Pens, pencils, highlighters | Editing cards between games | Write version numbers on every card |
| Scissors or a paper cutter, corner rounder | Clean cards that shuffle | A paper cutter saves hours |
| Zip bags and a box | Keeping versions apart | Label bags with the version |
Making cards from a spreadsheet
Keep every card in a spreadsheet from the start: one row per card, one column per field (name, cost, type, text, count). When you change the game, you change the sheet and reprint, instead of rewriting cards by hand.
To turn the sheet into printable cards:
- nanDECK: free, script-based, popular with designers.
- Component Studio: web-based card layout from spreadsheet data.
- Data merge in InDesign or Affinity Publisher: if you already use one.
- A word processor mail merge into a table of card-sized cells works for early versions.
Add a small version number in a corner of every card template, so mixed-up decks are easy to sort.
When to upgrade the prototype
Move to a nicer prototype when the rules have stopped changing much and you need to show the game to people who will judge its look: reviewers, publishers or a crowdfunding audience. Print-on-demand services such as The Game Crafter and MakePlayingCards will print single copies with real card stock and boxes. Spider-Goat Games printed its Martial Art review prototypes this way.
Boards and tiles
- Print boards on several sheets and tape them together, or print at a copy shop on poster paper.
- Glue printed tiles to cardboard (cereal boxes work) or chipboard.
- A dry-erase sheet or whiteboard is great for testing maps that keep changing.
Bring it to a table
A prototype only improves when people play it. Take it to a game night and see what happens; see our playtesting guide. In Utah, We Geek Together welcomes designers at its game nights in Sandy and Provo.
Questions people ask
What's the cheapest way to make prototype cards?
Print card text on plain paper, cut it out, and slide each slip into a card sleeve in front of a card from an old deck. The sleeve holds it flat, and the deck shuffles like real cards.
What card stock weight should I use for prototype cards?
If you print straight onto card stock, around 110 lb cover (about 300 gsm) feels close to a real card. Check the maximum weight your printer can feed.
Where do people get meeples and cubes for prototypes?
Board game component suppliers sell them in bulk, and you can borrow them from games you already own. Game stores sometimes sell bags of spare bits and dice.