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7 Reasons Why A Card Game Is the Best First Game to Develop

7 Reasons Why A Card Game Is the Best First Game to Develop

Card games are the best option for a first tabletop game development project.

There are many reasons to choose a card game as the first game development project for an independent tabletop game publisher.  The business of publishing your first game is more complex than you might think. There is so much to learn: design, development, marketing, manufacturing, international freight, supply chain, customs, regulations, and more.  Card games can be less expensive to make, test, manufacture, ship and crowdsource than a board game.

Here are the top 7 reasons to develop a card game as your first game project.

3 three main components to a card game is a deck of cards rules and a box

#7 Card Games Are Small - and that’s a good thing!

There are only three components for many card games: a deck of cards, a small rules booklet and a small box.  It’s easy to have the game with you when you are out and about. You never know when you might get the chance for a quick game with friends.

handmade card games are cheap and easy to design and test

#6 Card Games Are Easy To Design

A handmade deck of cards is very easy to make. Get a stack of 3×5 index cards, a pencil and good eraser. Some designers use labels and card stock in their printers or get blank poker-sized cards to adapt, but it doesn’t have to be that fancy to start.

 

friends play testing a new card game

#5 Card Games Are Easy To Test

It’s fast and easy to change text, design, and other elements drawn on a card.

Card games can be easy to learn, even if the strategy takes a while to master. A causal play test with friends and family can take as little as 20 minutes.

Card games are lightweight “filler” games for serious gamers, so a card game can make a good warm-up at game night with friends before Dungeons and Dragons, Magic The Gathering, or other heavier board games.

Put your card game in a ziplock baggie or 6×10 flat mailing envelope, then throw it in your backpack or car trunk.  You never know when you might get the chance for a quick game test at lunch break, happy hour, waiting for a plane, or waiting for anything.

Get off your cell phone and make friends while playing your card game!

box of prototypes of the card game pirate party women of the high seas from Seaport Games

#4 Printed Prototypes Are Cheap

Once your game has been thoroughly tested, create some art and graphic design, then get a printed prototype made.

The quality of digitally printed card games is very good. Online prototype printers such as Print & Play and The Game Crafter make it easy and relatively cheap to print.  This means a small budget, indie game designer can afford to make several games for play testing at game nights or at Friendly Local Game Shops, and at conventions.

A card game can be cheaper to print and cheaper to ship than board games.  Send your good looking card game prototype to game reviewers and content creators.

card games on a pallet shipping from the game manufacturer

#3 Card Games Are Affordable to Manufacture and Ship

Every game manufacture offers customizable professional quality playing cards in standard sizes.

Inexpensive cardboard tuck boxes fit a typical 54-card deck. Small two-piece boxes are made to fit two decks. Custom options cost more, but are still relatively inexpensive.

Economies of scale can make card games a good first option.  Be prepared to make a minimum of 2000 copies.

Freight is much less for cards games since they are smaller in size and weigh much less than board games.  They are easier and cheaper to store as well.

 

 

Kickstarter recommends the best price tier at $25 or less

#2 Card Games Can Be Easier to Sell

Marketing a new game for sale can be a daunting task.  The price for manufacturing a card game is very reasonable, which makes the price point affordable for your customers.

Many tabletop game companies crowdsource games on Kickstarter.   The recommended and most popular price level for backers is under $25. This is the price point for many card games.

Card games take up less shelf space and are cheaper to stock at your friendly local game shop.

 

pirate [arty women of the high seas card game for 2-4 people from Seaport Games

#1 Card Games Are Fun For Everyone!

Young, old, and everyone in between enjoys a good card game. You can design your card game for children, student, adults, or for the whole family.  Your card game can be simple, strategic, funny, or it can teach skills or tell a story.  Card games are fun, universal, and popular.

 

I hope you enjoyed this article and got something out it.  Was this helpful to you?

What would you like to learn more about  in game design and development?

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Marge Rosen

Marge Rosen

Game Designer and Publisher

 

Marge owns Seaport Games, an indie tabletop game design studio and publisher in the small seaport city of Port Angeles, Washington, USA .  When COVID-19 hit, her lifelong career as a musician was put on hold, so she turned to another passion – board games!  View other posts by Marge

Game Testing During A Pandemic

Game Testing During A Pandemic

playing board games, game night, Seaport Games

Game Testing During A Pandemic

My passion project during COVID-19 has been designing new tabletop games. My first project was a music-themed board game Be A Rockstar.  As I mentioned in my previous post on inspiration, I have been testing and revising handmade versions of this game.

Like many of you, I had no access to friends and family outside my household during the COVID-19 lockdown. My new game desperately needed playtesting from others.

How do you test a board game during a pandemic?

easy button, Seaport Games

Pre-Pandemic Game Testing Was Easy

The best and cheapest informal game testing opportunities can be the most fun. I enjoy game night at a friend’s house or host a game night, go to a play testing Meetup in town, visit a pub or coffee shop that hosts a game night. Some brick and mortar game stores even host game testing events. More expensive game testing might involve attending a gamer convention.

I thought it was hard to virtually test tabletop games in early stages of development. I had no digital art and I’m not an artist or graphic designer, so I was really limited in my ability to get anything on the virtual game apps like Tabletop Simulator or Tabletopia. I didn’t even realize I could take digital pics of my game components and use those for the virtual game apps. Over time, I’ve come to learn that there are plenty of ways to virtually test a game.

In the mean time…

game and package delivery

Game Testing By Mail

The only thing I could do was to mock up the game using a blank game board and box, with color sticky notes for board spaces. Then I put all the board and game components in the white game box: 3×5 cards, dice and play money borrowed from an old Monopoly game, printed rules sheet, and player tokens I’d scavenged from other games. I even printed a game testing sheet so friends could log some feedback.

The game was packaged and sent by USPS to several friends and family members. I knew this process would take too much time, but I gave it a try. I offered to Zoom into game play sessions and was available by text or phone call for any questions, but none of my attempted game-testing-by-mail experiments were very successful.

failure is learning, fail to succeed faster

Failure Was Success

The little feedback I got showed the game idea was fun. I expected this because my friends and family members are musicians or music lovers. I learned which game elements they enjoyed most and which rules and mechanics needed work (most of them). The game was too complicated.

In this early stage, I really needed to be present during the game test to quickly answer questions and offer help while trying out different game play options in real time.

I also learned the game was going to take a lot more time and much more testing to get to the point of being worthy of an artist and graphic designer.

Despite the failure of my attempts to get the game tested by mail, I really did learn a lot about the process and about my game. This positioned me to make tough, but needed business decisions on Be A Rockstar.

reality check

Reality Check

Be A Rockstar needed much more play testing. At the time, COVID was still raging throughout the country and there was no vaccine available.

I sent request for quotes (RFQs) on prototype production and full offset printing production to manufacturers in the USA. I quickly learned that small indie games made in the USA would not be profitable.

I sent RFQs to several Chinese manufacturers to get a sense of what the budget needed to be.

The game has too many components: Main game board, box, rulesbook, 80 cards, 26 mini cards, player tokens, dice, score pad, etc. The cost to have one prototype of the board game printed and shipped was well over $100 which seemed expensive at the time.

Even when ordering in bulk to reduce costs, I learned the freight charge to send the games by container ship would cost close to the amount to manufacture the game!

My first Kickstarter campaign needs to be successful, the product needs to look professional, and the budget needs to be affordable. The timeline of getting my first board game ready for a crowdfunding campaign seemed unmanageable.

The more I learned about developing and manufacturing a board game, the more I realized this project was bigger than I could manage properly for my first attempt.

So I pumped the breaks on the board game.

startup business pivot

Pivot

Fortunately, I was also designing a new card game.

Three components are much easier to manage than twelve. All that is needed is a deck of customized standard-sized playing cards, a rule book, and a box. A card game is much less expensive to prototype, mail, and get manufactured.

Card games are less expensive for potential customers and backers, too.

 

Marge Rosen

Marge Rosen

Game Designer

 

Marge owns Seaport Games, an indie tabletop game design studio and publisher. View other posts by Marge

Marge’s Game Blog

Marge’s Game Blog

The Pivot

I am a professional musician who lost a year or more of gigs and bookings, and maybe a career, to the COVID pandemic. When I’m not playing music, I’m playing games. With lots of time on my hands, I’ve been playing A LOT of games. Card games, board games and video games.

I’ve backed many musical crowdsourcing projects for friends and colleagues in the past, but recently I’ve been looking for new, fresh games. I found some really fun projects to back on Kickstarter. It can be a great way to help support independent creatives like myself.

As a lifelong games enthusiast, I’ve created handmade games, adapted existing games, and dreamed of creating new games that are fun and entertaining. I have a music-themed board game idea and it seemed like a good time to fuse my two passions: Music and Games.

What does it take to go from a board game idea to a professionally produced product that I would be proud to share with friends and family?

How is a game manufactured?

How do I run a successful Kickstarter campaign?

Will this new endeavor be a startup business?

Then how do I get my game sold at games stores or online at Amazon?

Could the startup grow to a full time business to provide me and my community with living wage jobs?

Follow along as I explore, work, stumble, learn, and answer these questions while I create a game.


PHOTO CREDIT: Carolyn Caster. Marge at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington, pre concert sound check.