How to Design a Card Game

Card games have been played for centuries and continue to enjoy widespread popularity today. Specific card games can involve a classic 52-card deck, a set group of cards unique to the game itself or "collectible" cards that allow decks to be built from literally thousands of different options. Professionally designed card games take years to produce and cost a great deal of money, but if you are enthusiastic about the format, you can design your own card game with just a few simple tools.

Things You'll Need

• Spare cards Flexible plastic card sheaths Printer Scissors Glue

Instructions

1. Come up with a concept for your card game. It needs to have a colorful hook to get players interested, a level of strategy to pit their wits against each other and specific win conditions to determine the victor. Shuffled cards provide a certain level of randomness, so you should include provisions for luck as well. These concepts needn't be fully formed at this stage: You just need a general idea of how the game works and what players will be interested in.

2. Develop the sequence of play: the way turns are conducted, the means by which players play the cards and the general effect each card has on play. Turn sequence is important in card games not only because it provides a balanced playing field, but because it determines when certain card effects take place and thus how the flow of the game will proceed.

3. Create a preliminary list of cards: what effects each card has on the game and the conditions under which those effects can be activated. If you are working with a standard 52-card deck, you need to be specific about what each card does. If you are designing a card game from scratch, make sure the effect of each card can be succinctly described on its front surface. The more words you use, the more difficult it will be to fit the rulings on the card, so be as succinct as possible.

4. Print out copies of your cards on a printer. They needn't be fancy, they just need to describe the card's effect and contain any other pertinent statistics clearly. When you have printed them up, cut out each one and glue it to an existing card (cards from any 52-card deck will do). If you don't want to use glue, you can slide your paper cards into flexible plastic card sheaths (available at any hobby store) and then slide an existing card (from a 52-card deck or a popular collectible card game such as Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic: The Gathering) behind it.

5. Play-test your card game using the cards created in Step 4. Run as many game sessions as you can, looking for perceived "breaks" in the game: cards that are too powerful, cards that unduly imbalance the game, cards that detract from the fun, cards that interfere with the overall strategy.

6. Polish and revise each card in response to your play testing. Over time, this eliminates unfair rules and provides a good balance to your system. The process may take quite a while, so be patient. Don't proceed until you are certain your game is balanced and playable.

7. Design a look for your cards. Each one needs to contain a text box for rules prescribed to them, as well as prominent spots to include numbers and other statistics. You should also provide a large central space for a colorful image depicting what the card does in game play (a knight defeating an opponent, for example, or a monster dodging a blow). If you have the resources, consider hiring a graphic designer to create a card design for you.

8. Include a piece of art for each of your cards. If you intend to publish the game for purchase, you should hire your own artists to provide original content. If your game is just for personal use, you can download pertinent images from the Internet.

9. Assemble your card designs in a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop or InDesign. Place the play-tested rules in their pertinent locations, add completed artwork in its designated central spot and check the overall design to make sure the cards look their best.

10. Write a rulebook. Include a glossary of pertinent terms, a breakdown of game play and a turn-by-turn example of how your card game is supposed to run.

11. Contact a printer or a game publisher to see about printing copies of your card game on proper stock. If you just want to use your card game for personal use, then simply repeat Step 4: print out completed copies of your game cards and glue them to existing card stock or slip them into sheaths along with existing cards.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have enough resources, consider overlapping these steps to save time. For instance, you can work on card design and order artwork while your game is being play-tested.

• Copyright issues can be touchy in the gaming industry. If your card game is based on an existing game or contains elements similar to those in an existing game, contact the company that produced it and get its permission before printing them.