When designing card games, I'd like to target a number of cards in the deck that would make the game as easy as possible to produce. From a production perspective, how many cards should I use? Multiples of 50? 60?
--Randy
Number of cards in a typical game
Tue, 08/10/2004 - 14:45
Tue, 08/10/2004 - 15:16
#1
Number of cards in a typical game
It does depend on the company doing the printing. The most common set seems to be 55, so multiples of that are best. However it's worth considering as part of the design the possibility of removing or adding a few cards, such that you can meet production needs.
Tue, 08/10/2004 - 17:07
#2
Number of cards in a typical game
You can always add a few cards with blank fronts or the template artwork but no pictures and text to round up to the printer's plate size. In most games, a few "make your own card" blanks are very welcome, and depending on your game and how many blanks per page you're getting, you might even be able to sell bundles of 20 blanks.
Tue, 08/10/2004 - 17:09
#3
Number of cards in a typical game
As Fastlearner stated is does depend on the printing company, but from my quotes/experience the the actual number of cards does not seem to hinder/help ease of production. Unless you are talking about using some type of standard playing card(not a custom front and back).
The number of cards only seems to influence the total deck cost, since more cards in a deck cost more money to print. And more cards also leads to additional packaging costs.
Tue, 08/10/2004 - 18:23
#4
Number of cards in a typical game
Do a quick forum search and you'll find more detailed answers, but suffice it to say that there is a popular press that is designed for card printing and cutting, and with 2.5" x 3.5" cards precisely 55 will fit. If you had a deck with 56 you'd have the potential of doubling the cost of the cards -- you'd certainly have to pay for a whole additional set of film, press setup, and collation.
Printers don't always go out of their way to fill you in on all that: ask specific questions. Without knowledge of the field you'd be surprised how much difference one little thing makes. In the hundreds of printing quotes I've requested over the years I've learned quite a lot, and I'm still sometimes surprised. On a job just a few months ago, for example, I learned that by decreasing the size of my die cut by a tiny bit -- less than 2% -- I was able to nearly half the cost of the die because the company was able to use a complete different die cutting machine (wth the smaller die) that would otherwise have been sitting idle.
-- Matthew
Tue, 08/10/2004 - 18:33
#5
Number of cards in a typical game
FastLearner wrote:
On a job just a few months ago, for example, I learned that by decreasing the size of my die cut by a tiny bit -- less than 2% -- I was able to nearly half the cost of the die because the company was able to use a complete different die cutting machine (wth the smaller die) that would otherwise have been sitting idle.
This is something I really don't understand about the industry. Does the company want you to use the more expensive machine so they can make a higher profit? It seems like it should be in their best interest to be up front about things like that because if you're willing to make the tiny change, it cuts their quote in half and makes it much more likely you'll order from them. You'll also develop a lot more trust for the company and be that much more likely to deal with them in the future.
Why do the companies all seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to get the information needed to buy from them?
Tue, 08/10/2004 - 18:46
#6
Number of cards in a typical game
I assume the 'multiples of 55' rule drops out when using business cards ...
(In these earlier stages of game design, I seem to want to make games that use a lot of cards, but I don't need to store much information on them ... and don't need to be stored in a hand)
Then again, I don't know how well printers are set up for business card-sized playing cards which isn't quite the same thing ...
Hmmmm ....
